The Illuminator - Discontinued
by fantasy is everything
Summary: AU. Luke had hoped for a normal day in an completely ordinary smuggler's life. Yet that hope was swiftly destroyed when Han invited an old Jedi master aboard the Falcon with the intention of taking him to a planet in the Inner Rim. Now they adopted a confrontational course towards the institution Luke always tried his best to avoid: the Empire. To what end? Read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: As this is my first fanfiction (and really first story in English) ever, I would be delighted if you left a review whether or not you want me to continue writing. I'd also be very grateful if you'd tell me any mistakes you'll undoubtedly notice._

 _Another warning: I cannot and will not promise any specific dates for the following updates as I'm about to finish school and have tons of exams coming (I'm sure you can understand). So please don't be angry if you have to wait a little bit longer for an update._

 _Disclaimer: I have only ever owned Star Wars in my dreams, so any original characters and story lines do not and never will belong to me._

xXx

 **Chapter I**

The bright light of Tatoo I and Tatoo II stung his eyes uncomfortably but instead of averting them in favour of the endless wasteland that was Tatooine, Luke continued gazing at Tatoo I as if mesmerized by the brightness of it. He barely noticed the heat which was increased tenfold by his dark clothes. What was it truly about, the people's fascination with the light and the dark? Why was everyone so ready to condemn the dark, to blame it for every horrible thing that happened in the galaxy? As if the light was any better. Tatooine was a wonderful example of what too much light could do to a planet. A mostly deserted, infertile place, crawling with people who had some of the darkest minds in the universe, as if to balance the surplus of light.

Luke sighed and closed his eyes. Philosophy had never been his strong point. Much like silencing his thoughts. Or being patient. Or acting only after having thought his plans through. He smiled wryly despite himself. Oh well, when had this turned into a 'Analyse-your-flaws' session? Next he'd resolve to improve those imperfections which were so typical for him. Yeah, right.

"Hey, kid, if you're done napping, would you maybe consider coming down and giving me a hand? I've got us a job!" Luke abruptly opened his eyes and silently chastised himself. He hadn't even sensed Han approaching. Any other day, any other situation, such inattentiveness could get him killed. Especially on Tatooine, which was known for its gentle citizens who absolutely wouldn't attack anyone. Ever. 'No use fretting over the past now.'

"Depends on the kind of job. I hope for both our sakes it's well paid, 'cause I'd rather prefer not to have to work for Jabba again to save your ass."

"Now just wait a minute, if you hadn't wrecked the Falcon I …" Han was known throughout the galaxy for his ability to divert attention from the subject on hand, as well as putting the blame for his own faults on someone other conveniently involved in the deed.

"Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I distinctly remember it being your idea to fly through an asteroid field to have a little bit of 'fun'." And to be honest, it had been kind of funny. Especially when the first asteroid had hit the Falcon head-on, which had caused Han to shriek like a girl. He still denied it to this day.

"You didn't object loudly enough, then. You're supposed to be the voice of reason after all, right?"

Even though Luke still hadn't gotten up, he could virtually see Han waggling his eyebrows. Making a conscious effort not to roll his eyes – he was doing that far too often anyway – he got up, balancing his weight on the hull of the Falcon. "The job?" Would a somersault to get down count as showing off? Ah well … Luke simply jumped, cushioning his landing with the Force.

"Piece of cake, I'm telling you. Just an old man with two droids who wants to get to Alderaan. No big deal, and he's willing to pay seventeen thousand. Can you believe that guy?"

"Seventeen thousand?!" Now, that was good news. And bad news. Good news as it would finally get Jabba of their backs, if they managed to deliver the money immediately after finishing the job. And that was a very big 'if'. No sane person would pay seventeen thousand for such a simple job. So either the old man was insane, which could be really bad, or he was in trouble – which would make this job extremely exciting. Or turn it into a disaster. But hopefully an exciting disaster.

"Yep, seventeen thousand. But we'll need to take off within the hour, so would you mind helping prep the Falcon? Chewie's already getting the supplies."

"Your wish is my command, boss." Han rolled his eyes and disappeared into the Falcon, muttering about "insolent kid" and "damn that sarcasm". Luke grinned.

xXx

Obi-Wan made his way through Mos Eisley Spaceport, trying his best to ignore the incessant chatter of the golden droid walking just slightly behind him. If he hadn't known his creator, he would have seriously questioned his sanity when he created this menace. His heart ached at that thought. After all, Darth Vader couldn't exactly be described as in the right state of mind. Nowadays, he probably would create a machine solely for torture without a second thought.

He stopped, closing his eyes, trying to banish all thoughts whatsoever from his mind. Right now, he could not afford his mind drifting away to happier times, the times when Anakin … Right now, he needed to focus on getting the droids to Alderaan and saving Leia as soon as possible. Princess Leia Organa, unknowingly the only hope of the galaxy, now that Luke … Focus.

"Sir, why have we stopped?" So much for reaching a calm state of mind. How was he ever to come to terms with his past when he was surrounded by painful reminders? He should have never left his humble abode in the desert. But Leia needed his help and he owed it to Anakin not to fail her where he had failed him. He took a deep breath and continued on his way to docking bay 94 without answering the droid who immediately started complaining to Artoo at the rudeness of people.

"You got everything, Chewie? Are you sure you haven't forgotten anything?" Rounding the corner to the docking bay in question, Obi-Wan picked up the voice of his soon-to-be pilot from afar. A roar responded to the question, which Obi-Wan roughly translated to "Do I look like an idiot to you?" – just a tad bit more impolite. "Just checking, okay! No need to get so upset." The faked innocence in the pilot's voice would have been amusing, if it hadn't reminded him of …

"What about those horribly sweet cakes we always buy on Tatooine? You know the kid gets whiny if his supply of sugar is lacking." Kid? They would be taking a kid with them? Even though he kept his face expressionless as he approached the pile of junk – that is the ship – his mind started racing. There was no telling what would happen on this mission and how soon the smuggler would be able to back out. Taking a kid with them would be an unnecessary risk.

"I do not whine, boss." Obi-Wan's steps faltered slightly as a man dressed completely in black stepped out of the spacecraft. Despite his best efforts the past just seemed to be determined to catch up to him today. While the man didn't possess the impressive height which was typical for Darth Vader, there was no question as to where he'd gotten the inspiration for his outfit. He even wore a cape. Though, the helmet was different; it fit closely to the head with a broad visor, and while it seemed to be equipped with a respirator, it clearly wasn't used for life support. Furthermore, it obviously distorted the voice to make it unrecognisable. The whole suit was designed to protect the identity of the person inside. Who was this man running from?

"Could have fooled me. You do remember that time on Rafa IV when …"

"Our guest has arrived." Whatever surely embarrassing story the pilot was about to tell, the man interrupted him rather rudely, as Threepio was quick to point out. Not that anyone listened to Threepio anyway.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi." He extended his hand, maybe then the 'kid' would introduce himself as well. But the 'kid' didn't even seem to think about it.

"Get on board."

For once, Obi-Wan had to agree with Threepio. That man certainly was rude.

xXx

As soon as the old man – the old Jedi Master – had boarded the ship and was out of hearing range, Luke turned to face Han. "A piece of cake? You call smuggling a former Jedi master to a planet in the Inner Rim a piece of cake?" And people were calling him reckless. Seriously.

"I didn't …" Whatever Han Solo did or didn't do, the Stormtroopers storming into the docking bay didn't seem to consider it to be very important. At least not important enough to think twice about shooting at the two men still standing shocked outside the ship.

Luke cursed. That was the second time this day someone snuck up to him! Maybe he was finally losing his touch, something Han constantly tried to tease him about. Unsuccessfully. He was NOT losing his touch. "Get on board!" Simultaneously, he grabbed the gun and fired a few random shots at the troopers, trusting in the Force to guide him, while pulling out two small detonators, activating them and throwing them amongst the attackers. Satisfied with the results he quickly jumped aboard the Falcon. Not a second too late, seeing as Han was already taking off. Had Han not been a guy and had Luke not been really pissed at him right now, he would have kissed him for the impeccable timing.

"Man the guns, kid, would you?" Even if it was sometimes annoying that the Falcon was such a small ship, it always proved to be useful in battle situations. That way, they only had to use comlinks when they were both sitting in the separate cabins where they could fire the guns.

Escaping the Imperials turned out to be – unsurprisingly – not much of a hassle. Immediately after making the jump to light speed, Luke got out of his seat and went to join Han, Chewie and their guests in the cockpit. "There you see, kid, not a big deal, didn't I tell you?" If glances could kill – and if they wouldn't lose that effect through the visor – Han would be so dead now.

"Not a big deal?" Luke asked, voice dangerously low though the voice enhancer made sure that tone was lost. "When exactly did that quick trip to Alderaan change into running from the Empire?" This time he didn't only look at Han, this time, it was the old man who would have died.

"Ah well, actually, you see …" Huh. He must be looking as angry as he felt if Han started stuttering in his company.

"Just spit it out, Han." He probably should try to calm down a bit, lest he wanted the room to start shaking. And that would really give him away to the Jedi. "Kenobi here did kind of warn me of the risks, but you see, I didn't want to worry you. I know how you feel about missions involving the Empire …"

"So you thought what I don't know won't hurt me?"

"Err … yes."

Luke growled. "And that is precisely why I should never let you look for missions on your own." A strong urge to slash at something came over him but he knew that would have to wait. He couldn't exactly go on a rampage in the Falcon, otherwise their debts with Jabba would have risen ad infinitum by now. No, a chair would have to do. He plumped down. "Well, what's done is done. But I want to know what exactly I should expect from this mission. And I mean it, old man. Everything."

xXx

Obi-Wan made sure that his face only depicted mild interest during the angry outburst of the dark man. Mild interest, nothing gave away his racing thoughts. Like how it was possible for the man to obviously feel such strong emotions when Obi-Wan could pick up nothing that would suggest emotional imbalance from him. In fact, now that he truly focused on the man's presence in the Force, he realised that was exactly what he perceived. Nothing at all.

Had he been in any different situation, he would have probably dubbed the man in black as just a regular person with even less Force-sensitivity than your run-of-the-mill human. It was as if the Force was literally telling him that the man wasn't worthy of his attention. Yet Obi-Wan couldn't resist the feeling that there was more to this mysterious person, that he should pay closer attention to him.

"And I mean it, old man. Everything." Obi-Wan blinked, startled out of his own thoughts by the man. He seemed to have calmed down a bit, though it was hard to tell with his mask and the fact that he was a blind spot in the Force.

"I'm afraid there is not much to tell. I was simply invited by an old friend to join him on Alderaan." So maybe he was a bit out of practice after his years in exile. There was simply no way they would believe such a statement after being chased by the Empire. And after he'd told the pilot that the Empire might get involved. Good job, Obi-Wan.

"So, the Stormtroopers were actually after somebody completely different and we were just accidentally attacked?" Even though he couldn't see the man's face and his voice was distorted, the sarcasm was obvious. There goes plan A. Luckily, there was always a plan B: Improvise.

"Well, forgive me if I'm not ready to divulge all the details of the secret mission I received. That would defeat of it being secret."

"Do not test my patience any longer, old man."

Definitely a Darth Vader wannabe, Obi-Wan realised with a sharp pain in his heart. Even as a Sith Lord Anakin still hadn't lost his ability to inspire people. Only now, it was the bad kind that was inspired instead of children playing on the streets. The one important question now, though, was whether Solo's companion only tried to imitate Vader's form of intimidation, or if he was actually loyal to the Sith and the Empire. Yet Solo didn't seem to be the type to commit to any government, and if the man was travelling with him, he might share that spirit. Of course, there was no way to be certain. He sighed.

"I might be more willing to share some information about what we might encounter if I actually knew who I am dealing with."

"If you're asking whether the kid's loyal to the Empire, you don't need to worry. We're smugglers, pirates of a sort, and bounty hunters from time to time. Money's our loyalty, remember?" Solo waggled his eyebrows and punched the man's shoulder. Obviously, he expected him to share the inside joke, probably to reminisce in some other adventure a long time ago, and to stop pestering their customers. Hopefully, he would stop pestering the customers.

The masked man shook his head. "Seriously, Han? Not now." But he failed to suppress a chuckle, and gone was the intimidatory aura he seemed to constantly emit. That story definitely had to be worth listening to. "But he's right. Just because I happen to prefer the colour black does not mean I'm some lapdog of Vader's." He muttered a bit more silently: "It's almost as if the guy has a patent on black armour."

There was naturally still the possibility that they were leading Obi-Wan on and trying to lure him into false sense of security and trust. However, it didn't seem like he had much of a choice. It was either take a leap of faith and tell them of his mission or be removed from the ship (not necessarily on the next spaceport). "Well, I am actually on my way to a friend." For some reason, the formerly intimidating man didn't appear to be very happy with that statement. Obi-Wan hastened to continue: "However, I might have forgotten to mention that I was invited by his daughter's droids who just happen to be carrying plans of a dangerous weapon the Empire has built. I was tasked to deliver them to the Alliance."

The silence in the cockpit was thick enough to be cut. Even Threepio had finally shut up for a second. No wait … he and Artoo had left a while ago, deciding that they didn't need to take part in an argument between (rude) people. That explained the silence. It was finally broken by the man who got up from his seat, walked to the exit as if to leave the cockpit and literally started banging his head against the wall.

"This is definitely the last time you get to choose a job, Han. As in, the last time ever. You couldn't have picked one with more Imperial involvement if you'd tried!" Han Solo had at least the decency to look guilty.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello again! Thanks a lot for your reviews, and I'm glad you've enjoyed the first chapter!_

 _Let me hear what you think about the second! :D_

 _xXx_

 **Chapter II**

Finally. Luke had finally relented and gone to his cabin to calm down. While the kid might be an excellent warrior – one of the best he knew (not that he'd tell him that to his face), ways better than Boba Fett who (according to rumors) had been trained in combat since he was a baby – he definitely lacked in diplomatic skills. Though, he always claimed that Han wasn't any better at it than him. Liar.

Anyway, Han seriously hoped that the kid wouldn't stay angry at him forever. How should he have known that the old man was actually a Jedi and a rebel in disguise? He didn't exactly look all that threatening. Although now that he really thought about it, he probably should have remembered Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Negotiator, who had been all over the Holonet when Han had been a child.

Now, that legend was sitting in the lounge of his ship. If only he could tell his former self about it, he would have been ecstatic. Maybe not quite as delighted as he would have been if Anakin Skywalker had been sitting there alongside his teacher – after all, it had been that Jedi who he had looked up to the most. But nobody knew what had happened to Skywalker, just as nobody knew what had happened to Kenobi. Everyone just presumed them to be dead, perished in the Jedi Purges. Obviously, that wasn't true for Kenobi. So maybe, he would know what had become of his friend? Should he ask?

"Well, we should arrive at Alderaan in 0200 hours." The old man continued staring off into space for a while, a pained expression on his face. Hopefully he wasn't going to have a heart attack. But he managed to shake the Jedi out of his stupor, as he focused on Han, all the while turning his face impassive into his 'Jedi mask'.

"Hopefully we won't arrive too late."

"What do you mean?" Han asked, wondering if he should start to panic now. The Jedi sounded wonderfully pessimistic.

"I felt a great disturbance in the Force. As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced." Of course. The Force. The ominous concept that always told a Jedi what to do. Even now, almost twenty years after the end of the Jedi's era, people whispered about them and their incredible powers. And even though Han had lived through the Clone Wars, he had never quite believed those stories.

"The Force?" He raised an eyebrow sceptically. Kenobi just smiled at his response.

"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together."

"Err … right. Listen, I've flown from one side of the galaxy to the other, I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything that made me believe that there's one all powerful Force controlling everything. There is no mystical energy that controls my destiny. In my experience, that's all just simple tricks and nonsense." Well, so much for diplomacy. Astonishingly, the old man didn't even look offended, he just smiled at Han knowingly. Who would have guessed that Jedi could look so immensely annoying?

"Have you ever talked to your friend – what is his name actually?" Han briefly wondered what Kenobi had planned to ask him in the first place, but that thought was immediately pushed aside for the more pressing question of what he was supposed to answer to that. Curse Luke and his obsession with secrecy.

"Sorry, his name's top secret. Just call him kid, works fine with me." Kenobi did a very good impression of Han's sceptical eyebrow.

"I rather doubt that he would approve of me calling him kid. Do you really not even know the name of your partner?"

Han sighed. "Of course I know. Well, his first name at least. Kid's been with me for five years already, after all. And before you ask – no, he does not wear his mask all the time and yes, I do know what he looks like without it." Kenobi actually had the audacity to look surprised at his answers. What had he expected? That he just picked up guys with masks and without names and let them accompany him on missions? As if. He couldn't resist glaring at the Jedi.

"Who is he running from?" Han almost gaped at the man. While it might have been obvious that Luke was trying very hard to hide his identity, he hadn't thought anyone would ever dare to ask why. Heck, not even he knew who Luke was so afraid of, after all, the kid hardly ever showed any fear.

"What – never mind. It's his business if he's hiding from someone, and that's a very big if, old man! Anyway, if I were you, I would definitely not ask him." And there it was again. The infuriating Jedi mask. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to the 'fresher."

xXx

Obi-Wan looked at the pilot's retreating back. Alright, so maybe it had been a bit tactless to ask so bluntly about the kid's past. Yet Han's reaction had told him more than a thousand words about it could have.

Granted, it surprised him that Han Solo and the kid shared such a long history together. Especially, since from the antics and nicknames the two of them shared, the man in black had to be considerably younger than Han, which would mean he couldn't have been much more than a child when they met. Which consequently led to the question as to what exactly his childhood had been like to turn him into the person he was now. What had prompted him to take on the mask and the cold, indifferent attitude, which was obviously just an act?

Obi-Wan shook his head. He shouldn't waste his time trying to figure out a person he probably would never see again after this mission. He should be focusing on the warning in the Force, the uproar he had felt before, and on planning a rescue for Leia. No matter how intriguing the kid was, he simply couldn't afford to waste time and strength to figure him out.

"You shouldn't dismiss the importance of the boy, Obi-Wan." The man in question looked up, startled. He had thought he was alone in the lounge, and he was. Except for the translucent form of his former master, who had appeared in front of him.

"Qui-Gon." Obi-Wan smiled. "It's good to see you again." Qui-Gon briefly returned his smile before turning serious again.

"This is not a social visit, Padawan. Have you not listened to any of my teachings in the past?"

Obi-Wan frowned, confused. It had been years – decades, in fact – since Qui-Gon had last called him his Padawan. Ever since learning to communicate with his former master in his years of exile, Qui-Gon had treated him as his equal. So what had he done wrong now? "I'm afraid I don't understand, Master. The Force is giving me no indication when it comes to this man. It is … strangely silent."

"That's because you're too focused on understanding what drives him, what has happened in the past to make him who he is. Listen to the Living Force, my Padawan. What does it tell you about the role he has to play in what is to come?"

"You never cease to make me feel foolish, Master." He blamed his years of exile, the years of pondering his past mistakes and what exactly had led to Anakin's downfall. So maybe he had gotten into the habit of looking at the past instead of the present. A fatal mistake, as his former Master had always pointed out. He closed his eyes. "I feel … turmoil in his future. Chaos in his wake. Confusion … so much confusion. The light and the dark, both battling for his loyalty …" He abruptly opened his eyes. "Anakin – and Leia. Both will be crucial for his destiny, just as he will influence theirs." He cast down his eyes. "But the outcome is uncertain."

"Very good, Obi-Wan." Ever the teacher. But Obi-Wan for once didn't feel flattered by the praise, too shocked about what he had just discovered. How could he have missed it during his years of nearly constant meditation? How could he not have foreseen the turbulences in the future that were about to come and that seemed to centre around the young man he had almost decided to ban from his thoughts?

"Who is he, Qui-Gon?"

"I'm sure you already know, Obi-Wan." With those words, Qui-Gon disappeared. It was probably in the job description of a Force ghost to have such impeccable timing.

xXx

Luke was shaken out of his meditation by a sudden movement of the floor. Wait, what? They were flying at light speed, what was going on? Before he even quite realized what he was doing himself, Luke had gotten up and out of the door, heading for the cockpit. And he wasn't the only one. If it weren't for his wonderfully quick reflexes, he would have flat out collided with Obi-Wan Kenobi. As it was, his evading the old man didn't do much good, as the ship made another abrupt swerve to the right, throwing both of them against the wall.

Luke cursed while regaining his balance. "What's going on, Han?" He scrambled to cross the last few metres to the cockpit and grabbed a hold on the door in order not to be thrown around with every swerve of the ship.

"We've come out of hyperspace straight in a meteor shower." Luke rolled his eyes. Way to state the obvious, Han.

"And why, pray tell, have we come out of hyperspace when there clearly is no Alderaan anywhere nearby?" By now, Kenobi had joined them in the cockpit, his face portraying only mild curiosity even though he must have been as close to freaking out as they were.

"Don't get smart with me, kid. Our position's correct except – no Alderaan."

"What?! What do you mean? Where is it?" So what if he was slightly panicking right now. He might have been halfway across the universe and seen a lot of strange and horrible things, but he had never ever lost a planet before.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you, kid. It ain't there. It was somehow … blown away or something." That absolutely floored Luke. A whole planet – gone. And there was only one explanation.

"It must have been destroyed by the Empire." How could Kenobi stay so calm when he was saying that an entire civilization had just been destroyed, a fertile, rich planet full of peaceful people?

"The entire Starfleet couldn't destroy the whole planet. It'd take a thousand ships of more firepower than I've …" While Han was still ranting about the impossibility of the situation, Luke slowly sunk to the floor, his thoughts racing. That huge disturbance in the Force he had felt hours ago – he knew what had caused it now. It hadn't been some natural disaster as he had hoped (and wasn't it sad that he actually preferred earthquakes and tsunamis and what not) it had been the Empire. And for such a huge move which would attract everyone's attention – which was meant to attract everyone's attention and fear – someone high up would have been there to order it. And there was really only one person besides the Emperor (who never left Imperial city) who could have given such a command.

"There's another ship coming in." Luke looked up from his position on the floor, feeling Kenobi's eyes on him. Did he suspect?

"It's an Imperial fighter." The old man said, turning to Han. Luke shook himself out of his stupor.

"Where'd it come from? There are no bases nearby."

"Good question, kid. Chewie, jam its transmissions." Obi-Wan shook his head slightly.

"You might as well let it go. It's too far out of range." Han stubbornly focused on the controls.

"Not for long." Luke rolled his eyes. Leave it to Han to turn this into a let's-see-who's-faster contest.

While Han still tried to catch up to the fighter, Kenobi's face turned pensive. "A fighter that size couldn't get this deep into space on its own." Luke got up from the floor and mildly glared at the old man.

"Didn't I say that, like, a minute ago?" Chewie briefly intervened with a bark, reminding him to at least be civil with the customers. "Anyway, he must have been part of a convoy and gotten lost. Or there is a base nearby that we don't know about." Hopefully it was the first. If there really was a base close by, he would be willing to bet a lot of money that they would somehow end up there. And unless his father had come and gone on his flagship already, he was sure to be there.

"Well, he ain't gonna be around long enough to tell anyone about us." They continued to follow the TIE fighter in a long enough silence for Luke to work heavily on not panicking again. When would he finally learn to listen to his feelings? He had always known that this job was not a good idea. Smuggling a Jedi was never a good idea if you planned on staying under his father's radar, something he had perfected over the last five years of hiding. Mind you, he had still had a couple of close calls where he could feel his father almost reaching out for him through the Force. Unfortunately for Vader, he had taught his son well on how to hide one's presence in the Force and had thus never succeeded.

"Hey, it looks like it's headed for that small moon." No. No way. Luke shook his head in denial. It simply couldn't be true.

"That's no moon. It's a space station." Clenching his teeth and pressing his eyes shut, Luke slowly counted to ten. They had completed it. How he had prayed that this day would never come. The day the Death Star went on his maiden flight to spread horror through the galaxy. And naturally, Luke had to be there to witness it.

"It's too big to be a space station." Han's disbelieving voice brought him out of his denial.

"Turn the ship around, Han. Now." Han briefly hesitated while fingering a few of his controls and glancing at a few screens. "Now, Han." While the voice enhancer made it impossible for any strangers to tell, Han clearly seemed to hear the strain in his voice which left no room to debate.

"Yeah, I think you're right. We'll reverse."

xXx

Ever since entering the cockpit, Obi-Wan had kept a close eye on the young man who had cost him quite a few nerves in the last hours just by making him wonder who exactly he was. Mind you, he did have a theory as to who he may be – and from what he had felt of the future, it was even a very probable theory. Yet could he really dare to hope that he had finally found the son of his Padawan, the boy who had disappeared without a trace when he was six?

Even now, in a difficult situation like this where the boy was certainly distressed, Obi-Wan still could not pick up anything from him. He had never seen anyone, especially Force-sensitives, who could make themselves unnoticeable to the point where they almost didn't exist in the Force. Usually, anyone's countenance would slip at least a tiny little bit when they fought emotional turmoil. Luke, though, seemed to have perfected that art.

"Why are we still moving towards it, Han?!" The ship started shaking. Tractor Beam. Excellent. Han realised the same and voiced his thoughts, which caused another round of bickering to start between the two men. Sighing, Obi-Wan decided to intervene before things got too much out of hand.

"There is nothing we can do about it now. We have to choose a new course of actions, then." Again, he was faced by the black mask and Obi-Wan got the distinct impression that Luke was glaring at him. He seemed to be doing that a lot. What exactly did he know about their shared past? Or was there something else he had done to deserve such outright hostility from the young man?

"Well, we ain't gonna go down without a fight." Obi-Wan smiled. The pilot really shared too many antics with Anakin, it was almost as if they were back in the Clone Wars.

"We can't win. But there are alternatives to fighting." Unsurprisingly, Han Solo didn't look even remotely enthusiastic at the thought of hiding in their smuggling compartments.


	3. Chapter 3

_All right, guys, I've never really been in full flow like right now, but I guess all the better for you. Third chapter's now done and ready for you to enjoy._

 _Tell me what you think!_

 _xXx_

 **Chapter III**

"Will you PLEASE just. Shut. Up. Han?" Sometimes, Luke just hated his choice to put on a helmet to disguise his identity. True, if he hadn't, he probably wouldn't be here today to complain about said helmet as his father would have found him ages ago and either locked him away or simply killed him. And wasn't it kind of sad that these were actually the best case scenarios for his father's reaction upon seeing him again?

Anyway, since Luke was wearing a helmet which filtered his voice, words said too silently weren't translated and thus, no matter how furiously Luke was whispering those words, Han couldn't perceive him. Which was why he was still muttering and cursing about the ridiculously small compartments and the hairy beasts he had to share it with. Luke was tempted to point out that one, only Chewie could really be qualified as hairy as Luke was wearing a body suit and two, calling Chewie a hairy beast would probably end up with serious repercussions Han would absolutely NOT complain to him about. Besides, since Han's hair was all his pride and joy, he had no right to bemoan another person's. Yet again: helmet. No use whispering. Frustrating.

By now, Luke could hear the Stormtroopers trampling up and down the Falcon and tried desperately not to think about what they might do to the poor ship. Who knew what went on in the minds of those Imperials? Best case, they would just leave her alone to stay in the hangar of the Death Star indefinitely. Not likely. Worst case, they would drop her off at a garbage dump and an era of suicidal missions, crew bonding and drunk excursions would end. Luke shuddered. In between those two scenarios, there was a broad range of other horrible ideas the Imperials might come up with, like taking the Falcon apart and recycling her. Or – Force forbid – they might try to repair her, not realising they were actually destroying her in the progress. Or …

Before Luke could come up with any more horror scenarios concerning the Falcon's future, the steps of a Stormtrooper passed his head again and seemed to be leaving the ship. Han actually moved to get out of the compartment, but luckily, Luke managed to stop him before he went through with it. Quite suddenly, he had an even worse feeling about this mission than he had when he had first seen Obi-Wan. Worse than when they had first been shot at by the Empire, and worse than when he had first spotted the Death Star. 'Not good …' It didn't take Luke long to figure out where this incredibly bad feeling came from – outside of the ship, his father was apparently approaching.

How he knew? Well, Lord Vader had never tried to be inconspicuous and he obviously hadn't changed that habit in the last five years. Instead, Luke could feel the oppressing, ominous and now omnipresent feeling in the Force which he had long since connected invariably with his Father. As response to that, Luke made himself as small as possible, both in the Force and in the real world, which earned him quite a few perplexed glances from Han and Chewie.

Thankfully, whatever the Stormtroopers had reported to their boss, it didn't prompt him to come on board to check the ship himself. While Luke was fairly confident in his ability to hide his Force presence – his father had taught it to him well enough to hide him from the Emperor, after all – he didn't have the same kind of trust in Kenobi's skills. Plus, only a fool would have left the filial bond he shared with his father unconsidered.

As he felt his father leaving the hangar, he noticed he still had his hand on Han's arm to stop him from leaving the compartment. He simultaneously realised that said man was quite furiously glaring at him because of that. In response, Luke threw him an apologetic glance (which the pilot sadly would never receive) and let go of his arm. He nodded to Han to confirm that it was safe to leave the compartment now, which caused the older man to soften his glare a bit and lift the tile above their head, though it didn't stop him from cursing about moody little kids.

xXx

Blinking rapidly at the sudden influx of light, Obi-Wan checked again to make sure no one was close by before following his associates in getting out of the compartments. The man in black – again, Obi-Wan still wasn't quite sure whether or not he should just start calling him Luke – motioned for Han to hurry up and get out of their shared compartment. Understandable, since it surely hadn't been quite as comfortable for them as it had been for him. He might have had the two droids with him, but at least those two didn't radiate as much body heat as two beings of flesh and blood and additionally, they didn't breathe any air at all. Obi-Wan, though, knew better than to point out that fortunate (for him) situation as Luke already spent too much time glaring at him (or so he presumed).

While Obi-Wan had wasted his time with his musings, Luke and Han casually knocked out the two troopers from the scanning crew. Ah, so that was the reason Luke had been in such a hurry to get out. He had obviously been paying more attention to his surroundings than Obi-Wan. He wrinkled his brow at the thought. Even though he had stopped using the Force ever since they had been caught by the tractor beam in order to reduce the probability of being detected by Vader, it was still kind of embarrassing to be bested by a boy less than a third of his age.

Obi-Wan refocused on his two companions, the older of whom was shaking his head. "This is ridiculous! Even if we could take off, we'd never get past the tractor beam."

"Leave that to me." Sneaking through enemy space station had been his speciality, after all. It might have been a few years, but he was still a Jedi Master.

"You sure you're up to that, old man? I'm sure the kid would be, otherwise. He's sneaky that way." The Corellian looked at his dark-clad friend at that jest, who just shook his head slightly.

"I'm not planning on sneaking around in Imperial bases any more than I have to." The statement was spoken in his usual flat tone, nothing to indicate fear or even slight displeasure at being here despite what he had just exclaimed.

"Well, you are going to have to leave this ship. This scanning crew will hardly be the last to check it, after all." Obi-Wan matched Luke in his composure as he delivered these words, though he was wondering if he had really expected to just stay on board. Yet Luke only tilted his head slightly to one side.

"Yeah, I've got a plan for that …"

xXx

"I still can't believe this actually worked! I mean, aren't Imperials supposed to be more competent and all that, with their insane educational drills and stuff?" And they really, really should be. After all, they were currently on the most dangerous weapon in the entire universe, so the prospect of it being in the hands of a bunch of idiots did not sit well with Han. But well – humans were humans and thus much too trusting and oblivious, as Chewie repeatedly pointed out. And it was definitely good for them right now, otherwise they would have never gotten away with leaving the Falcon in the Stormtroopers' armour with a Wookiee as their 'prisoner'. The old man would never have gotten of the ship undisguised either, Jedi or no Jedi, if the Empire wasn't such an epitome of incompetency. And they wouldn't have been able of just walking into a command centre, knocking the officers out and staying there without anyone noticing anything was amiss.

"Their reaction (or the lack thereof) is actually quite understandable if you think about it. Soldiers always tend to trust people who wear the same uniforms as they do because they trust their enemy to be honourable enough not to stoop so low as to infiltrate them in such a way. Rather naïve, if you ask me." The old man threw him a smug look as held his lecture. Smug enough to earn him a glare from Han and a sarcastic "Thanks".

"Now, where to turn off that tractor beam …" Kenobi turned his glance to the astromech who was already plugged into the computer and started beeping in a seemingly random pattern. Somehow, he still managed to sound excited.

Han tuned the protocol droid's translating out as he focused on the unusually quiet person on the other side of the room. While Chewie usually added comments only every once in a while and rather let his body language speak for him (rather clearly for those who knew him), the kid was not one to stay silent over an extended period of time. Which essentially meant that he was brooding over one thing or another, a fact that was a given considering they were on one of the Empire's most heavily fortified stations. He didn't allow himself to keep his eyes to long on the kid, as Luke was rather self-sufficient and hated making other people worried about him.

As he pondered the silence of his companion, Han couldn't help but think back to the bold question the Jedi had asked him earlier in the Falcon. What – or rather who – had Luke been running from those five years since he had met him? He could still remember that fateful day on Coruscant – that is Imperial city now, but did those government official really think that ridiculous name would ever catch on? – when he had been running around in some of the bars in the lower levels of the city, minding his own business and maybe looking for an interesting job. Long story short, he got into a fight with some dim-witted thugs, who were either hired by Jabba or who attacked him because he was hitting on one of their girlfriends – or maybe it was another reason entirely, it was not like they told him why they were attacking.

Han had been incredibly lucky that the kid had coincidentally been at the same bar that day – it was the first of only a few times he had truly seen Luke in action. Even though he was only fourteen at the time, he took on the group of seven big, burly men as if they were just some squealing little girls; and when he was finished, they were indeed squealing rather pathetically – but they were still alive. Han learned soon afterwards that the kid did not always show such restraint, especially if he was really pissed. Even Han knew to avoid him then.

It was still a mystery to this day why Luke had saved him that day. Han's first thought had been that maybe the kid had some kind of hero complex, but that assumption was swiftly squashed after the first few weeks working with him. It had chilled him to see how cold a fourteen-year-old could be … thankfully, Luke at least seemed to possess a semblance of morality, a character trait Han had tried his best to enforce over the last five years.

"Quit worrying, Han." The kid's voice pulled him out of his reminiscing thoughts as he watched him leave his sulking spot near the window to move towards the Jedi. "You about done now, Kenobi?" The old man's eyes flickered over the screens a couple of times before he answered.

"Yes … unfortunately, we cannot turn off the tractor beam from here. I'll have to proceed further into the station." He turned towards his three companions. "It would be unwise to accompany me. A larger force would attract too much attention. We'll meet back at the ship." Han briefly wondered if Kenobi actually was suicidal – who else would plan on breaking even further into this gigantic space station. But then, the same could have been said about him far too often.

Luke nodded. "Sounds great." Those words caused Han to abruptly face him and lift his eyebrows. The kid never liked to stay behind and trust others to do what needed to be done, especially not strangers. Well … maybe he just wasn't too hot on running around in an Imperial station. Wouldn't be the first time he showed a semblance of nerves when they were on a mission which involved the Empire. Questioning him now, in front of their customers, definitely wouldn't improve the situation.

"Good." Kenobi moved towards the door and moved his hand towards the opener only to halt about a second before touching it. He half-turned back to face the kid. "And Luke – the Force will be with you. Always."

xXx

Luke felt like a bolt of lightning had hit him. Not in terms of pain he was experiencing, but in the 'how the hell did this just happen' way. Kenobi knew. He knew who he was, and only the Force knew what he was planning to do with that information. All the years of hiding, first the effort of his father to conceal him from both the Rebels and the Emperor, then his own when he added Lord Vader to the list, all those long years could now have been for nothing.

His eyes rapidly shut. 'Snap out of it, Skywalker!' He chastised himself and focused once again on disappearing in the Force. There was no doubt that the little breach in his shields had not gone unnoticed, neither by Kenobi nor – though he couldn't say that one for sure – by his father. Kenobi was unfortunate enough, but if his father had felt him – well, there would be no amount of luck that would suffice to get them of the Death Star safe and unharmed. He clenched his fists. If this would get Han, Chewie and him killed, he would haunt the old Jedi for the rest of his cursed life.

"Kid, everything alright?" The cautious tone in Han's voice could hardly be missed as he was probably wondering if it wouldn't be better if he just stayed silent. It was understandable – Han had witnessed a couple of times already that it wasn't wise to anger Luke any further if he was already anxious. Not that he would ever go against his friends, but the jobs they had been on over the last years had sometimes had – not so pretty results.

Luke turned away from the spot Kenobi had been before he had left the room with his dangerous message. "Yeah, Han, everything's fine. Just a minor complication." Hopefully this wouldn't end up being the understatement of the year. Han's sceptical eyebrow seemed to express the same sentiment. But before his friend could add anything to his facial expression, the astromech obviously found something of interest to them, as he started beeping in an excited manner. Chewie bellowed at the protocol droid to translate, which the golden tin can happily obeyed.

"I am afraid I do not know what he means. He just keeps repeating 'I found her.'"

He paused, turning to his companion who beeped again as an answer to the unasked question. Then, the droid once again faced Chewie. "Princess Leia is in the detention block, listed to be executed soon. Artoo wants to go rescue her. I don't know where this foolish droid gets his notions, but it would be beneficial to our cause if the princess would survive." Artoo – now he finally had a name for the spiky droid – beeped indignantly, which started a new round of bickering between the two droids. If he hadn't been busy with thinking about this new piece of information he had just received, he would have probably rolled his eyes at their antics – oh, who was he kidding, no matter how much he had to think about, he always had time for amusement.

"Well, I guess a princess could offer a suitable amount of reward for her rescue and since we're already in the system – what do you think boss? Shall we make this mission even more reckless and stupid?" Luke had no idea where he had picked up this courage in the face of losing all that he had worked for the last five years, but it would be dumb to let it go to waste.

"It's your call, kid." It was rare that Han gave up on the pretence of being the sole leader of the crew, but apparently he had decided to listen to him. For once.

"Great! Then let's go spit the Emperor in the face!"


	4. Chapter 4

_Well, I'm honestly not quite satisfied with the progress of the next chapter - only half done yet. But I guess I wanted to post this chapter now because I couldn't await your reactions. So post reviews! ;)_

 _Thanks for the positive feedback btw!_

 _xXx_

 **Chapter IV**

Leia Organa stared at the grey, boring, standard Imperial ceiling of her cell, contemplating the meaning of life, death and everything else. Or, as her father would have put it, she was sulking. Her father … never again would he accuse her of behaving immaturely or acting rashly without thinking about the consequences of her actions – and he would have been right. How often had her loud mouth and quick tongue caused trouble, not only for her, but for her family and her people as well? The Death Star fiasco was just another example, the highlight in the carrier of a failed politician.

Refusing to give into tears, the princess sat up and clenched her hands. Her weaknesses and flaws didn't matter now, she was only wasting precious energy, energy that could be put to much better use – in doing nothing. She sighed, frustrated, and suppressed the urge to punch somebody, or something in this case, as she was alone in her cell. Completely alone … A single tear escaped her practiced mask as this realisation once again hit her. There was no one left in this universe who would care about her death, nobody to miss her, everyone was dead. Killed by the Empire.

Oh, how she longed to walk up to the infuriating Tarkin and swipe off the smug smile of his face with a well-placed slap! How could he? The Alderaanians were one of the most peaceful people in the entire universe, their rebellion consisted of nothing but words – so in her opinion, those words were often more effective than any battle could be. So even if a select few of Alderaan's people were a danger to the Empire's propaganda, it still didn't warrant the destruction of one of the most populated planets in the universe. 'If I ever get out of here, they will pay for what they've done!' It felt so good to give into her anger, at least it felt like she was doing something besides sitting around waiting for her execution.

The door to her cell opened and a Stormtrooper walked through the entrance. A Stormtrooper – without the usual impressive height and intimidating body build. A trait she couldn't help but pointing out. "Aren't you a little small for the troops?" Sadly, the trooper didn't react to her taunt any more than with a few harsh words.

"Get up. Lord Vader wishes to see you."

"That is very unfortunate for him, as I have no wish to spend any more time in his presence." She could almost hear her tutors praising her for this most superior tone of voice, even if it did make her sound a little bit bratty. Anything to annoy the Empire.

"I don't think anyone particularly cares what you want, princess. Now stand up yourself or I'll do it for you." The Stormtrooper gestured with his gun – men and their fixation with weapons. It would be sad if it couldn't get dangerous very quickly. Leia stood up in order to preserve at least a shred of dignity and straightened her – admittedly not quite so clean – dress.

"There is no need to be impolite, soldier. And I would rather prefer it if you kept your hands to yourself."

The trooper did not rise to her comment but simply gestured her to move. As she had decided to walk herself, for once she wasn't pushed out in the hallway of the prison tract. Uncomfortably aware of the soldier behind her, she proceeded to walk down to the command centre, where she was greeted by cold glares from the people who didn't wear helmets – though the other people in the room probably didn't appreciate her any more.

Luckily, her guard didn't stop to chitchat with his fellows, instead he simply guided her – he was surprisingly gentle – towards the turbolift. Before entering it himself, he swiftly turned around to face the prison guards. "In the name of Lord Vader, I thank you already for your cooperation. I will be sure to tell him about your flawless performance." And with a last salute, he closed the lift doors behind himself.

xXx

That had been even easier than he had thought it would be. Fortunately, his father was a rather sentimental type of a person – something that would undoubtedly catch anyone who didn't know him by surprise – but for him, it meant that he never ever changed his codes. Besides, there hadn't been any particular reason why he should have changed them since Luke had left five years ago, after all, Lord Vader had never even suspected that his son had breached the tight security in his chambers to spy on military information. And to be honest, he hadn't been particularly interested in it when he had planned that coup, he had simply wanted to test his abilities with machines.

Yet he had always kept that datachip with useful information close by, just in case he got into unexpected trouble with the Imperial military. There had been multiple times already when his teenage rebellion had saved his life. Luke smiled dryly underneath his helmet, wondering when his father would ever learn not to underestimate him. But then, Lord Vader fortunately didn't know yet that his son was here, otherwise their stay on the Death Star would have already become very uncomfortable and far more complicated.

The lift doors opened and Luke swiftly gestured for the princess to walk in front of him. The poor girl had fallen silent ever since they had left the cell in order not to waste what she thought as her last moments in the universe. A brief flash of guilt made itself known in Luke's conscience, but he couldn't afford to jeopardize his plan by revealing his identity to the princess not only in the presence of far too many Stormtroopers, but under surveillance as well. Besides, from what he knew of the princess according to gossip, she wasn't one to crack under pressure, so she would probably survive until he could enact phase two of his plan.

"Status report." He murmured into the comlink he shared with Han, simultaneously registering a confused look from the princess, to which he responded by gesturing with his gun in the typical manner of an idiot – of course, he meant Stormtrooper.

"We've moved down from the control room, it was getting a little bit hot in there … we have eye-contact with the Falcon right now, but we'll have to turn back to the nearest storage room – you gonna find us?" Luke nodded absentmindedly, trying to get a feel of the place Han was describing.

"We will proceed as planned then. Any word from the commander?"

Now the curiosity of the girl was definitely spiked, even though she could only hear his responses. Luke cursed mentally. Hopefully she would at least keep her mouth shut until they reached Han. An argument on the corridors of the Death Star definitely didn't sound like his idea of fun. "No word from him, no. Hopefully he manages to turn that tractor beam off." With those words, Luke cut the connection with Han once again and guided the princess down a few hallways until they finally reached the storage room Han had been talking about.

xXx

"Get in there." The Stormtrooper pushed her – not quite so gently as usual – into a small room to the right. To say Leia was confused would have been the understatement of the year. First, they had not gone up as she had expected – after all, the higher up the officers were in the military, the further up you went in a building, and Lord Vader was basically as high as it could get – and then, her guard had started to talk with someone over a com-link. All in all, not the weirdest behaviour she had ever seen in the Empire, but weird enough for her to get curious. Sadly, her father had never managed to teach her that curiosity could get her killed.

She entered the room; and it turned out to be a storage room. Why had this strange Stormtrooper taken her here? After a quick look around, she registered another man in Stormtrooper garb (but without the helmet), two droids and, as if her day hadn't been bizarre enough, a Wookiee. This was definitely an interesting turn of events, seeing as no Imperial would ever let himself be caught in the presence of a Wookiee. So maybe this was her rescue party?

While she would love nothing more than to get out of this horrendous space station, the situation made her feel vaguely uncomfortable. She had never met neither the two men nor the Wookiee before, but the droids – she realised just now that those two droids were without a doubt Artoo and Threepio, who she had sent to Obi-Wan! Did that mean they had managed to get the message to the Jedi, or had they been intercepted by the men before her? Did Artoo still carry the plans of the Death Star? Leia blanched at the thought. Artoo needed to reach the rebel fleet, no matter what happened to her.

Turning her attention back to her company, she noticed that the dark-haired man seemed to seize her up just as she scrutinized him in order to guess his intentions. He turned to her companion, who had by now closed the door behind himself. "Finally! Chewie and I had half a mind to go after you. We thought you'd been caught!" Leia turned around to face her guard to gauge his reaction. A surprisingly young face – probably a man about her age – was revealed as he took off his helmet, donning an expression of mock hurt on his pale face.

"Don't you have faith in me, boss?" He pouted.

Leia turned back just in time to catch a brief flash of surprise on the other man's – the leader of the team, apparently – face. What could possibly have caught him of guard? Or was it just the undoubtedly tense situation they were in right now, which prompted her to overinterpret his expression? "I might have more faith in you if you would actually share your plans with me for a change." He grumbled in response to the cheeky teen.

"Now, where would be the fun in that?" The cheery attitude of the blond man was perplexing, and it appeared that she was not the only one who felt that way. Her emotions were mirrored by the other man.

The lack of response from his companion – or maybe he just didn't count pissed glances as a response – prompted the fair guy to continue: "Anyway, you got everything for phase two?"

"Phase two?" Leia may be a politician, and she may have been taught that patience was a trait to be encouraged – but well, she wanted to know what was going on here, and no one in this room had volunteered any information, not even her droids. Surprisingly, it was the blond man who answered, although the other one had seemed to be the leader of the group. Interesting.

"Yes, phase two, princess. As you may have guessed, it doesn't involve a rendezvous with Lord Vader." He smirked at her. "In fact, I'm afraid he won't have the pleasure of your company for quite a while." The smile on his face almost reached a terrifying quality.

xXx

This fight was harder than any he had ever fought in all of his life. Harder than battling five of his father's best battle droids simultaneously, harder than mock-battling said father, harder than a serious confrontation with one of the greatest experts in hand-to-hand combat in the entire galaxy. Then again, it wasn't about to end deadly. Who really cared if Luke lost the fight against the mad grin on his face? It could hardly make guiding his odd group of (almost) friends through an Imperial base any more difficult.

So maybe he was feeling a little bit reckless today. He had already decided a while back to just screw it. Well, he had stopped caring after he realised that his countenance slipped when Kenobi guessed his identity correctly. Today was just one of this days where the universe (a.k.a. the Force) was just generally working against his wishes, so he could just as well run along with it and make the best of the worst. Luke's smile even widened, if that was possible. Maybe he would even face his father today? His reaction would be absolutely glorious. The long lost son, finally returning to his father's presence – in the company of his nemesis (Kenobi), a politician he hated and would have seen executed by the end of the day (Leia), a smuggler without any major importance to him, but whom he would hate nevertheless because he was 'scum' (Han) and Chewie (funnily enough, with the Empire's general attitude towards non-humans, he probably wouldn't have much of a problem with him). To top it all off, they would meet on a space station Luke wasn't even supposed to know about. Glorious.

Finally, after running into a few idiots and dealing with them, they arrived at a door which led directly into the hangar bay. "Let's hope the old man managed to take the tractor beam out of commission." As Han finished that statement, Luke turned back to the group, the mischievous smile still on his face.

"There are still a couple of our friends waiting for us." He motioned towards the Stormtroopers 'patrolling' in front of the Falcon. Force knew what they were actually doing, as they would have spotted them by now if they were on the look-out.

"Hopefully something will attract their attention." Han muttered, not sounding very hopeful at all. Yet as if that had been their cue, the troops moved away from their position.

"Go, go!" Han half-shouted furiously; and off they ran (or rolled, in Artoo's case).

"Get on board", Luke shouted towards the group as he covered them with a few well-placed shots, "and get the ship running!", he added to Han. However, as this day really didn't like him, the princess naturally had to decide that she knew better. Muttering "General Kenobi", she moved closer towards the battle between Kenobi and his father (not that it was really a fight – his father was more or less toying with his former master, enjoying his obvious superiority).

Next followed a loud scream of denial as Darth Vader cut down Obi-Wan Kenobi. Some would surely sing wonderful songs about this glorious battle, Luke mused, and probably not get half of the facts right. He quickly hurried to catch up with the princess and balked: "Get on board. Now." Thankfully, he managed to shake her out of her stupor as his father had just turned back towards them from examining the empty (empty?!) cloak of his enemy.

The princess ran to the Falcon, screaming "Let's go!" to Luke. Well, duh. What had he just been saying?

He moved backwards while firing at the last remaining idiots in the hangar until he caught his father's eye. His appearance froze the feared black giant on the spot and his shock was portrayed quite obviously through the Force. Luke smirked. Then he fired a well-placed shot on the control panel, and the last thing his father would see was his son's mocking bow.

xXx

He was alive. He truly was alive. Were it for any other circumstances, Darth Vader would have been jumping up and down in joy (not literally, for Force's sake. He was a Dark Lord of the Sith, he had to keep up appearances!).

But he was in bad company. Very, very bad company. How, and when had Kenobi found his son? How big of an influence had he had on him before his death? Darth Vader cursed mentally. He had been so careful. Nobody, not the Alliance, not the Emperor, not even his own personnel had found out about the boy who had lived constantly for almost ten years in his quarters. At least that was what he had thought. Until the fateful day five years ago, when his quarters had been empty.

No effort he had taken had returned his son to him. But now, he was back. And Lord Vader would do everything in his considerable power to turn him back to his side.


	5. Chapter 5

_Et voilà, chapter five. Can't wait to hear about your reactions._

 _xXx_

 **Chapter V**

"Ah, what an exciting day, wouldn't you agree, princess?" Leia looked up from her lap at the young, blond man who had just saved her life, and sucked in a sharp breath. He was now clad completely in black and had a helmet under his arm – thankfully, he didn't wear it. The flashbacks to her time with Lord Vader were bad enough as it was. Quickly, she rearranged her face in a polite, if annoyed mask.

"You do realise that today, one of the most populated planets in the galaxy was destroyed? I would not call such a day exciting; tragic would be a more fitting term, wouldn't it?" Even though she was using her politician's voice, she was afraid that her hurt, her vulnerability was shining through. She chastised herself in her mind for that weakness, though even if it was only to be expected after losing her home planet, she still had no idea who she was dealing with. Whatever she revealed now could very well be used against her at a later point.

Obviously, she wasn't the only one who had been taught never to show her true emotions. The blond man answered rather indifferently to her words, despite the sympathetic, consoling content. "I am sorry for your loss, your majesty. The Empire's deeds today … they are simply unforgivable." It was chilling to see the murderous glance that now entered his eyes, showing how ready he was to act on his feelings. He could not be much older than herself, Leia realised. Yet for all her tough talk, for all that she was willing to do for the rebellion, she knew exactly that this peer before her – he had done so much more. Not necessarily in assistance to the Alliance, but generally, he must have led a hard life to emanate this cold readiness to do everything that was needed in order to succeed.

"Just call me Leia", she muttered, breaking eye contact, for some reason now uncomfortable with the formality that had dictated her entire life. Maybe because there was no realm left to be a princess of.

He didn't answer to her whispered words. After several seconds of the unexpected silence, Leia finally looked up again to meet his eyes, only to catch him scrutinizing her intently. Unnerved by his gaze, she snapped indignantly: "Have you never been taught that it's impolite to stare at people?" She didn't know how she had expected him to react: maybe crack another joke like he had constantly done on the Death Star, perhaps retort in a similarly pissed way, or just simply look away embarrassedly; but he didn't react at all. He didn't twitch, he didn't smile, he didn't even blink – frankly, it was even more enervating than before.

Luckily, he was shaken out of his stupor by his companion shouting from the cockpit: "We're not out of this yet, kid! Get your ass moving, to the guns!" The fair man didn't even respond, instead he just stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Leia to sit on her own, frustrated and confused to no end about his mysterious behaviour and feeling useless, like – one of her worst fears –a damsel in distress.

xXx

It hardly took Luke more than a few minutes to get the four TIE fighters off their necks. Anything else would have been very, very sad indeed, especially considering that he hardly had to aim at all, as Han did all the groundwork for him with his excellent flying. Of course, Luke would never, ever admit that, because it would completely destroy the image of the unbeatable warrior he was always working so hard to convince everyone with. Almost always.

Han frowned while punching in random coordinates and accelerating to light speed. He had never before seen his friend act so freely, downright cockily in the company of strangers. Most of the time, he played his aloof, superior act, even for Han who knew him better than anyone else. Heck, for all he knew, he was the only one besides Chewbacca who had seen his face in the last five years. And before that – well, it wasn't any of his business, was it? No, it absolutely wasn't. It. was. not.

Han sighed. Who was he trying to convince? This was one of the actually very few things that bothered him about the partnership with Luke. The kid was great, sure – an excellent (and not unnecessarily cruel) fighter, almost as good a pilot as himself and a near perfect compass for danger. Even though it might not have seemed this way for most of their customers, he was also an easy-going, mischievous guy who could be talked into almost any nonsense (if he was in the right state of mind; if he was mad, one better avoided him anyway). But when it came to his past, Luke totally clammed up and refused to give Han only a single hint consciously.

Unconsciously though, he had given Han just enough clues to piece them together to a still mostly uncomplete picture. He knew for a fact that the kid had run away from someone (Han suspected it was his father) when he was fourteen and had met Han shortly afterwards. The father therefore almost had to be an Imperial (as they had met on Coruscant) and from Luke's actions, it was highly probable that he had a high position in the military. Who else would drill his child into a perfect, obedient killing machine?

"Hey, boss, you don't mind if I'll turn in, do you?" Han looked up, startled, feeling like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Woah, don't get a heart attack, I still need someone to handle the princess!" His shock and guilt must have shown on his face, then. Oh, how he envied Luke for his perfect control of his emotions when he needed it!

"But you always turn into a bumbling fool as soon as a pretty girl makes mooneyes at you! Shouldn't you be used to it by now?" That wasn't really true and they both knew it, but Han was continually dropping hints that Luke should find himself a girl (if only temporarily – like for a few hours). It was curious, though – why had he let down his guard for the princess? What made her so special? She was the first customer – or rather almost customer, as he doubted that Luke had discussed their wages with her – who had even seen a more personal side to the ominous Illuminator as Luke was called in most criminal circles. It wasn't very likely that he had truly taken a fancy to her, otherwise he wouldn't try to avoid her. Luke had always been the type to confront his problems (or in this case crushes) head-on, not hide away from them.

His partner's face arranged into a smile so sweet it almost hurt. "Well, wouldn't it be extremely inconvenient if I turned into a 'bumbling fool' in front of a customer, a princess even? That would only serve to damage our otherwise excellent reputation. So it would only make sense for our diplomat to go and arrange a deal, right?" Han rolled his eyes in a very Luke-like manner. It had taken hours in front of the mirror to perfect that move.

"Buttering up won't do you any good, kid. You're just lucky that I love arranging deals anyway. Especially when there're pretty women involved." Facepalm. That was the last Han saw of Luke before he left the cockpit. There might have also been some suppressed chuckling involved.

xXx

"Your highnessness." The brown-haired man, the one she had pegged as the leader, entered what probably was supposed to be the crewroom and sat down on the bench next to her, laying his hands on the table in a way that meant business. "Leia would suffice, thank you very much." She donned her best annoyed expression, but the man only reacted with what he must take for a charming smile.

"Leia it is, then. Well, Leia, you wouldn't have any specific coordinates to take you to, would you? The old man didn't tell us where he wanted to go besides Alderaan – sorry about that, by the way – so I just punched in a general route to the Outer Rim to get any Imperial spies off our tails. Would be great to know, though, where we're actually supposed to be going." No rebels, then. When no one had asked her where she wanted to go, she had actually presumed that the Alliance had sent a rescue team after her, though it would have been without a doubt the strangest group she had ever seen to break into an Imperial base (Seriously? A Wookiee?). Yet they clearly didn't belong to the Alliance, otherwise they would have known where to take her.

So General Kenobi had probably picked them up somewhere. Or rather the other way around, she realised. He had been staying on a desert planet for nearly twenty years, it was very doubtful that he had kept a spaceship in his courtyard. Her rescue team was hired, then. Fortunately, she was certain that the Alliance would have no troubles paying them, as they had many rich financial backers (her father had been one of them as well). "Yavin IV. And we should hurry before the Death Star can do any further harm. The Empire is sure to have put a tracker in your … ship, so they'll follow us rather than attack anyone else. We can only hope that our technicians will manage to decode the disk swiftly."

"Oh, no, princess, the Empire ain't tracing this ship, I'm telling you! And just to be clear: We drop you off, get the money and we're gone again. We don't want trouble with the Empire." Leia rolled his eyes at the man's naiveté or arrogance and couldn't help but frown at his last statement.

"If you want to avoid the Empire, why would you accept a job where you go directly against it?"

"Do you really think we knew we'd be entering an Imperial base? Our original job description was only to drop the old man and his droids off on Alderaan, no Empire, no nothing!"

"You desire extra compensation for your troubles, then, I suppose?" The man flashed her a toothy grin.

"Naturally. A princess' continued safety must be worth a lot, right?"

"It is truly sad how men like you would do anything for money, and nothing for higher purposes as freeing the galaxy from the tyranny of the Empire." This resulted in an – obviously faked – insulted expression and slightly narrowed eyes. How intriguing – the two partners couldn't be more different from each other. This one was easily pinned down – a womanizer, a smuggler, a leader hooked on his power (even if it really wasn't great in this case). The blond man though still puzzled her. One moment funny, nice and candid, the next cold and hard.

"It is truly sad how a woman with a body like yours wastes away in politics." That almost did it. She almost started one of her famous rants about women's rights, which still didn't exist in many men's heads, when she recognised a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He started grinning when she met his glance, and seconds later, he was laughing hard. "Oh, very funny … err … what's your name actually?"

He immediately stood up from the bench and bowed to her. "Forgive me, your worshipfulness, for not introducing myself the moment I entered your glorious presence!" He held out his hand, waiting for her to offer her own. Afterwards, he proceeded with his improvised performance. "Han Solo, at your service." At these last words, he swiftly pressed a soft kiss to the back of her hand. He was interrupted by a burst of her laughter at his old-fashioned fuss.

"Seriously, are you for real? Nobody does that!" She wrestled her hand out of his grip and wiped it clean at her dress, face donning a faked disgusted expression. She couldn't help it – despite him being the epitome of the criminals she had always looked down upon, it wasn't as if she could absolutely not stand him. In fact, she could even see him becoming a friend after a while, that is if he always posed such an interesting discussion partner (if one could really call their talk a debate).

Ignoring his mockingly hurt face, she pursued all the other questions that were whirling through her head ever since her spontaneous break-out from the Death Star. "What about the rest of your crew? The moody blonde and that walking carpet, do they have names as well?"

"Now, princess, only I am allowed to insult Chewie, just so we're clear. And a little piece of advice: nobody, and I mean it, nobody calls a Wookiee a 'walking carpet', that's as if they'd call us a talking naked mole rat. Not very polite now, is it?" As he continued ranting on about the Wookiee's rights, Leia only flushed a little bit in slight embarrassment. The real reason why she was almost flaming red like a beetroot, was the huge effort not to start laughing. Again. Just minutes ago, she had said that he could only be enthusiastic about money, and there he went, proving her completely wrong.

"So, it's Chewie, then? Chewie and …?" If he had truly thought that his impromptu speech could distract her from her favourite mystery right now, he clearly didn't know her very well. And how could he? They'd literally met mere hours ago.

Now, hesitance was written all over his face. What was it about this man who provoked such weird reactions? "Chewbacca, actually … and right, the kid. Listen, he normally doesn't like people knowing his name, hell, most have never even seen his face, but you have, so maybe he'd make an exception … you'd have to promise not to reveal it to anyone, like, ever. Can you do that, Leia?" For the entirety of their talk, she had never seen Han this serious. Why would it be dangerous to know his name? Unless … it was dangerous for the blond man. Maybe he was secretly a rebel deemed so dangerous to their institution that the entire Empire was looking for him. Or maybe he was a wanted criminal, a mass murder, a psychopath. She sighed. If she didn't agree, she had no chance of ever finding out.

She nodded. "I promise." Who really cared that curiosity had killed the cat.

xXx

By now, Luke had sat in his chambers for hours, meditating and pondering the mystery that was Leia Organa. Hours spent in unity with the Force, hours spent rifling through useless messages, feelings, prophecies, hours spent looking for the truth. When he had first seen her in her prison cell, he had thought that his nerves simply tingled because he was on a highly dangerous mission, that the Force was just telling him that this truly was his intended target.

Afterwards, on board of the Falcon, though, he had realised there was more to it. The strange feeling didn't stop, if anything, it intensified exponentially. The Force had been trying to tell him something, but the message was so jumbled, he hadn't managed to make sense of it even when he had focused only on her, blending out the greatest part of his surroundings. And then, when he had felt that he was getting closer to identifying the feeling, the TIE fighters had interrupted him.

Now, in his chamber, after hours of sinking into his deepest emotions until his mind was finally cleansed of them, he could at last see clearly. He felt everything aboard the Falcon, felt Chewie barking at the protocol droid for whatever reason (he didn't care enough to find out – besides, whatever Threepio did, it seemed to annoy somebody), he felt Han and Leia, sitting next to each other, chatting amiably (and hadn't those two become fast friends). He felt Leia. He felt her far more intently than he should have. Definitely Force-sensitive, then. It seemed like his first guess had been correct.

But that wasn't all there was to it. Determined not to lose his track this time, he sunk even deeper into the Force, until everything was dark besides the extremely bright spot that was the princess. And suddenly, he knew. He knew what the Force had been trying to tell him. How had he been blind to this, to her?

To his sister.


	6. Chapter 6

_Well, well, I was pretty impressed by the many feedbacks I received last time - seems I'm not the only one who adores reveal scenes. ;) Thanks, by the way._

 _Anyway, I'm still a bit undecided about the details in the following chapters - I'm thinking about bringing in characters from Star Wars Rebels; any opinions on that? Just let me know._

 _xXx_

 **Chapter VI**

Han's gaze swept across the cockpit, checking all the blinking lights and levers to make sure everything was working the way it should. You never knew with the Falcon; sure, she was the most amazing ship he had ever flown in, but only if you paid really close attention to her. That in particular was the trait Han most liked about her: She could surprise you at any moment, leading to some of the most incredible adventures he had ever had.

Today though, the cockpit didn't belong only to him and Chewie – today, it was full of multiple other beings. Leia, he didn't mind, he enjoyed the fiery princess with her strong opinions. He wasn't bothered by the astromech either – he might have actually been a great help in flying his ship, if the protocol droid hadn't been such an exhausting translator, constantly dropping his own paranoid comments to whatever his companion bleeped. "Do something useful, tin can, will you? Go and get the kid from his room, we're almost there."

Naturally, the golden droid immediately started complaining about the mistreatment he was experiencing aboard this ship, but after several minutes of discussion, he finally left to get Luke. Normally, Han would have pitied anyone who had to wake Luke, but in this case, he could only hope that Luke would lose his temper. The world would truly be a better place without that pitiful excuse of an assistant. "So, what's the plan when we arrive, princess? I don't really fancy being blasted out of the sky, so, any code word I'll need to know?"

"I wouldn't worry about that, captain, the rebels are not the Empire. They don't usually fire without asking questions." She smiled encouragingly at him. "But yes, I naturally have a code, which I will give through as soon as they ask for it." Why had he totally seen this one coming? It really didn't surprise him at all that the princess was unwilling to give away her secrets. And now, she was just laughing at his pouting. How cruel.

Shortly after Chewie and him had made the drop out of hyperspace, Luke arrived in the cockpit, this time in his full gear. Han shot a quick glance towards the princess to gauge her reaction to his friend's dark appearance – after all, she had only gotten to know him as a cheerful, if slightly suicidal youngster – and it was a good thing that he did watch her. As soon as she spotted her rescuer dressed so similarly to her captor, she tensed up, frozen on the spot, her political training probably the only reason one couldn't spot the internal panic attack more clearly on her face.

Before she completely freaked out, Han reached over to her, grasping her hand and searching for her eyes, trying to reassure her simply by exhibiting a calm, relaxed aura. And it seemed to be working, for after a while, she actually held his gaze, until she realised the rather awkward situation they were in and wrestled back her hand. Han let her do what she liked, what she was comfortable with – a rather new concept in his mind. Usually, he never let go of the reigns, he always controlled a conversation, a relationship, just to make sure it didn't head into a direction which was unfavourable to him.

He was brought out of his musings about the strange relationship the princess and him were developing by his friend. "That golden menace said that we've arrived. Where exactly have we been going?" Han had always prided himself on being able to judge Luke's moods pretty well, helmet or no helmet. Somehow, his instincts always told him if this was a time to make jokes, or if he was better of being careful with his choice of words around his friend. Now, these gut feelings left him completely stranded.

"Yavin IV. That's the rebel base Leia pointed me to. We'll go in, get our reward and then we should hurry to take off again. The princess's worried that we're being traced, I told her it was nonsense, of course, but better be safe than sorry, right?" That was cutting it embarrassingly close to rambling. And he only ever rambled when he was nervous or felt the need to defend himself, as Luke was very much aware of. Hopefully, he wouldn't feel the need to investigate.

"Good." Luke stated, though apparently only to Han's first statements. "You do know that it's highly unlikely that the Empire isn't tracing the Falcon, don't you? I mean, we can probably all agree that the Imperials have more than enough faults, but placing trackers on enemy and unknown ships respectively is standard procedure. Everyone knows that." Han pulled a face at Luke's lecture. The kid naturally had to stab him in the back when he had only been trying to impress Leia.

Said princess was laughing quite coldly at his predicament. "See, I told you so. But you just couldn't admit it!" Han's glare only prompted her to laugh even louder, but shortly afterwards, she sobered up and faced Luke. "I think it would be wise if I left the ship first to negotiate your reward with the council while you stayed aboard. I'm afraid your appearance … would be rather unsettling for a great part of our members. We wouldn't want any inconvenient accidents to happen because of that, would we?"

Luke stiffened slightly. "I recognize that, so I suppose it would be fine with me, as long as you take Han with you to ensure our party is partly represented. Though I would prefer it if you'd announce me later on so I'm not confined to the ship. I don't really fancy that, as you can imagine." Han internally lifted both eyebrows at Luke's manner of speech. It had always been sort of a running gag that Luke couldn't for the life of him stay polite during a business talk, yet now he was showing an entirely different side of his personality. Wherever had he learnt to deal with politicians?

"Well, it would facilitate matters enormously if you just took off your garb. We're rebels, remember? Not the Empire, if that's who you're hiding from. We can keep secrets, in fact, we keep our secrets for a living, so do you really think we would immediately go blabbing your identity, Luke?" Oh no. This would so not end well for any of them. While Luke had listened to the princess' speech, he had as usual stood there, unmoving, except for his right hand clenching. That was more than enough reason for Han to be worried. As soon as she had finished her last sentence, casually dropping Luke's name as if it was nothing special, the kid whirled around to face Han.

"You told her? Seriously, Han? You know, I'm not wearing this stuff just for fun!" He took off his helmet and furiously threw it in a corner, revealing his blazing, bright blue eyes. So maybe he had been wrong with his assessment. Obviously, Luke wasn't quite as trusting towards the princess as Han had assumed. An unfortunate error, as it turned out.

"Well, how the hell was I supposed to know? You don't tell me anything! We've been working together for how long, five years? And you've yet to enlighten me why exactly you're always in disguise! I can't read minds, man!" Han realised too late that he was probably laying it on a bit thick. It wouldn't do to start arguing in front of a customer, and he had only contributed by turning this into a personal matter. Though, now it was too late, anyway. "Besides, you didn't seem to care about the old man knowing your name, nor with the princess seeing your face. So why even give a damn about a fucking first name?" Luke responded with a hard glare (one that positively gave Han the creeps), then he turned away, picking up his helmet and heading to the door. Avoiding an argument? Even as Han was planning to jibe at his cowardice, his partner stopped and faced him.

"You had no right, Han, and you know it." The biting tone of his words and the finality of them made Han not only vaguely uncomfortable, but also invoked some feelings of guilt. Because Luke was right. He didn't know much about the kid's past, but he did know that Luke meticulously hid any reference to his identity. He should've respected his wishes, as he had always done in the past. "We'll do it your way, princess, but you will find a way for me to leave the ship as soon as possible. And if anyone suddenly knows my name or face – I know who will have talked. And I won't be as forgiving as today." Cloak billowing (though which wind might have caused that was a mystery to Han), Luke left the cockpit. However, he didn't take the awkward silence with him.

xXx

After spending one and a half decades in the Imperial Military (and earning quite an impressive reputation there) as well as several years in the Alliance's fleet (and being bestowed the title General for his extraordinary services), Jan Dodonna could confidently claim that hardly anything could catch him by surprise these days. In this calculation, he had not even counted his years serving the Old Republic, in hindsight a rather flawed organisation, naturally, but still – even back then he had scintillated with his ability to improvise, to adapt to new and completely unexpected situations and to find these solutions quickly. A quality indispensable for a commander of any kind.

He didn't dare to claim to have seen the Death Star coming, however. True, the Empire had increased its military forces over the years because of the growing danger from the Alliance as well as fighting several underground crime organisations (though this was probably just a claim to convince the regular citizen that the Empire was a just government who truly cared about its people. As if.). Yet the news of the Death Star and its nearing completion had sent the Council into a state of shock and helplessness. What could they possibly hope to accomplish if the Empire completed their horrific weapon and started to destroy every planet the Alliance ever set foot on?

Even then, it had been Jan who had taken the initiative and set up an elaborate plan to steal the plans of the gigantic space station in order to find a weakness. The other leaders had been all too happy to pass on this huge responsibility, and Jan had literally poured his soul into the plan which would immortalize him in the history of the entire galaxy. It was a gamble, sure – but one Jan fully intended to win. Hopefully, fortune would smile upon him once again, for after several hours of very quick work from his very best technicians and architects, they had indeed found the fatal flaw Jan had been praying for.

Just a few minutes ago, the Death Star had appeared on their screens after having dropped out of hyperspace. Fortunately, it was still out of reach, otherwise they would have surely been blasted by now. That's why Jan was headed to the assembly room, where he had to instruct the pilots as quickly as possible. Whether they would survive or not, it all depended on them. The base on Yavin IV might not be the only rebel establishment by far, but if they failed to destroy the Death Star and were subsequently eliminated, the fight against the Empire would be put back to zero. What could they possibly dream to accomplish if they had no access to the Death Star plans?

No, it was now or never. Today, they would prove to the Emperor that they were a force to be reckoned with, that he wouldn't get away with all his doing as he liked. With his resolve strengthened, Jan entered the assembly room - and almost froze at the sight before him. Thankfully, his previous experiences and the warning from the princess beforehand prohibited his losing his composure. Although he discovered at second sight that the similarities to Lord Vader were only superficial, he still had to marvel (though in a negative sense, naturally) at the intimidating appearance of the man standing in the corner, especially considering his less than impressive height.

He hadn't expected him to be here. When Princess Organa had mentioned and described her entourage, Jan had been far from thrilled. He was generally reluctant to welcome criminals into their rebel bases (as they were prone to treason), but on top of that, a Vader look-alike? Only the princess vouching for them had prevented him from throwing them out the second they had arrived. But now the most suspicious of the crew was in the assembly room, clearly intending to listen to their plans. What reason could he possibly have to linger around – except to spy?

It was dangerous to let him stay – and Jan was more than aware of that fact. However, he hardly had the time to explain the planned proceedings to the pilots as it was, so he could absolutely not afford to waste any more time on banishing him from the room. If he really was an Imperial spy (which was very likely in Jan's opinion), he would still hardly have any time to warn his employer of what he had found out, so it would hardly influence the outcome of this battle.

Jan nodded to himself, banishing any thoughts on the troublesome group from his mind. Instead, he stepped forward and began his instructions.

xXx

Luke discreetly looked around as he put the several boxes containing their reward and some provisions into the Falcon. He was receiving partly weird, partly afraid glances from the passers-by, much as he had expected when he had made his intention to leave the Falcon clear. It was not as if he was particularly bothered by them, what did the opinion of the rebels really matter to him?

Strangely enough, it did. For the first time since donning on his suit, he was reconsidering that choice, the one choice which had such a huge impact on his past five years, which had been integral to finding and defending his identity (despite still hiding it, naturally). People had asked tons of questions about it, and his reluctance to answer them had only intensified the mystery that surrounded him. Maybe it wasn't the happiest life, hiding almost everything from everybody, but at least he had survived.

Well, and it probably would have destroyed his wonderfully awful reputation if anyone had found out the reason for his chosen appearance. No, it just wouldn't do for a notorious smuggler and part-time bounty-hunter to wear clothes for such sentimental motives like wanting to feel closer to the father he had run away from. Or to take at least one piece of his old life with him into his entirely new one.

A sad smile appeared on Luke's smile, an expression no one would ever see. It looked like another era of his life was about to end. The argument with Han earlier had only proved what he had been stubbornly trying to ignore for quite a while now – it was time to move on. Not because Han had given away his name to Leia (mind you, she was his sister, after all. He would have told her his name by now, probably, but it should have still been his decision), but because of the growing curiosity. Han was starting to ask questions about Luke, about his past, and he wasn't satisfied by evasive answers and excuses. He didn't understand, didn't know that Luke was only trying to protect him, and how could he? To explain his reasons, he would have to tell his story, which would kind of defeat the purpose of it all, wouldn't it?

After having put the last of the boxes into the Falcon, Luke walked a last time into the cabin he had so long called his own. He wouldn't be taking anything with him, he couldn't afford to carry around luggage when he tried to set up his new life. He would have to make do with what he would pick up along his way, but then, that was nothing he wasn't used to. Still, he would miss the Falcon and its relative security, would reminisce about the adventures he had had with Chewie and Han. Some of the best times in his life had taken place aboard this ship.

"Ready to take off, then? The Death Star is getting a bit too close for my taste." Han was clearly trying not to let the awkwardness after an argument shine through too much, but then, he had never been the best at hiding what he thought.

"Yeah, everything's ready." Han turned around to leave for the cockpit, but was held back by Luke's voice. "Han, wait." He took off his helmet, not able to bear another barrier between them. "I'm sorry for flipping out earlier. I wasn't even really angry about Leia knowing it was just … I wanted to have that choice, you know? I didn't want the decision taken out of my hands."

"Do we really have to talk about this now, Luke? We don't exactly have the time." At Luke's pleading glance, though, Han continued. "Alright, apology accepted, Luke, and I hope you know that I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have told her without your consent. Sometimes, … it's just sometimes kind of frustrating, all your secrets, what I must and mustn't tell, and I don't even know why! Why won't you just tell me?" At this point, Han was almost shouting again, causing Luke to drop his eyes guiltily.

"I … I don't want to argue right now. I don't want this to be our last memory of each other." As he looked up again, he saw first surprise, then shock and disbelief pass over Han's face.

"What?"

"I'm leaving, Han. It's … it's just getting too dangerous. If I stayed any longer, I would only put you and Chewie in danger. Believe me, it's better this way." The shock slowly turned back into anger.

"You're not even going to tell me why, are you? It's just the usual 'it's too dangerous' talk I always get when I ask you a perfectly reasonable question." He turned away, frustrated.

"Han …"

"No. Either you tell me why, or you simply leave. I don't care anymore." Luke passed his hand over his brow, trying desperately to gather his scattered thoughts. This was not going how he had hoped it would.

"I can't. You're right. I'll leave." Just after he had passed Han at the door, he stopped to take out a com-link and press it into Han's palm. "If you ever need help, use it. It should be relatively safe." He made eye contact with Han, who stubbornly refused to answer. So Luke continued on his way to leave the Falcon, only turning around one other time. "You're the best friend I've ever had, you know that? Please don't take my unwillingness to share my past as a sign of distrust."

Luke would have left the ship afterwards, if not for Han calling him back. "What're you going to do now, kid? We're in the middle of nowhere." At least Han was talking almost civilly again. Luke smirked at his question.

"Why, I'm going seize an X-wing and destroy the Death Star, of course." At Han's disbelieving glance, he turned more serious. "Somebody has to do the job, after all, and we don't know if their pilots are capable to take that shot. I, for one, will not leave the fate of the princess to chance." Upon noticing Han's poorly hidden jealousy, he swiftly added, "not that I have a crush on her, if that's what you think. Just want to properly finish our last job." He put on his helmet again.

"Good luck, then, I guess." Han's voice still sounded insecure, uncertain what he felt about his (now former) partner.

"Thanks." Luke paused. "Oh, and Han – should you hear anything about me crashing or exploding, it's probably fake. Just, you know – I intend to 'go down' with a bang."


	7. Chapter 7

_Hey! Terribly sorry about the longer-than-usual wait, but you know ... school. I think that says it all. Anyway, might take weeks for me to finish the next chapter, might only take a few days - I won't make any promises._

 _Enjoy & review!_

 _xXx_

 **Chapter VII**

Leia stood in the centre of the command room conversing with some of the leaders of this base while waiting for the pilots to start their attack on the Death Star. The last ones had just taken off mere seconds before, so the commanders still had the opportunity to discuss several possible plans either for the attack itself or for various worst-case scenarios. Not that there was really anything any of them could do if the pilots failed to do their job and the Death Star managed to destroy Yavin IV. She refrained from mentioning this fact though in her current company, as she doubted such pessimism would be appreciated. Only days ago she would have frowned at anyone making comments such as these, but her experiences on the Death Star had resulted in a slightly darker outlook on the universe and its citizens.

Secretly she was extremely glad when Han entered the command room and signalled her – not quite as discreetly as he probably believed – that he wanted to talk to her. Not only because it finally gave her a valid reason for dumping her current endlessly optimistic company (nobody could hold her wanting to talk to her rescuer against her, after all) but also simply for no other reason than that she enjoyed his company – though why she did, was still a mystery to her. She didn't even know him for very long – but he just felt so trustworthy. A ridiculous thought given his occupation. He probably earned a lot of money by tricking people into believing him to be better than he was.

Despite this conviction about his true nature, Leia still couldn't help but admit to herself that she had felt slightly insulted and more than a little dejected after he had not shown up to say good-bye to her. It hadn't surprised her immensely that none of the other members of the crew had appeared – Luke was probably still mad at her for knowing his identity and if Chewbacca had only heard whispers of the derogatory words she had spoken about his kind (to her shame), it was only to be expected that he had no kind feelings for her. But she felt like she had somehow bonded with Han – and to her relief, it appeared she wasn't the only one to feel that way.

After politely excusing herself from her company, she made her way over to Han, who had chosen a relatively secluded area in the command room to wait for her, to her relief, as she didn't particularly fancy being spied upon. Briefly, she checked him out as she approached him (deliberately blending out the annoying little voice in her head which consistently pointed out his attractive looks) and noticed that he looked quite uncomfortable while waiting. She couldn't quite pin down the reason why – he probably would have preferred to be long gone, now that the Death Star quickly advanced. But why hadn't he taken off sooner? As she arrived, she couldn't help but ask exactly that question.

"I'm surprised to see you're still here. I thought you'd left already." Han donned a hurt expression to her accusation, although Leia could tell that his heart wasn't really in it. Of course, he wasn't insulted at her statement (they had spent most of the trip here in similar banter), but he also didn't seem to be in the mood for his usual acting, despite his best efforts to disguise his true feelings.

"Please, I would never have taken off without saying good-bye to my favourite princess", he nevertheless retorted, smiling charmingly. "And I was just wondering … how your plans concerning the Death Star are proceeding, I guess." He rubbed the back off his neck when he worded his interest, seemingly embarrassed all the same. Alarm bells started ringing in Leia's head as General Dodonna's warnings echoed through her mind. They couldn't be spies, could they? They'd rescued her, right? Somehow, it was incredibly hard for her to believe the crew of the Falcon to be dishonest about their intentions – which had simply been to get some money out of the life-threatening job of saving her life. Besides, her feelings had never led her astray before. But why would Han ask about the attack? He hadn't shown any interest in the survival of the rebels before, so what had changed?

"Why? If you wanted to participate, it would have been helpful if you had said so sooner."

Uncertainty was written in his face. "No," he paused briefly, still strangely sheepish, "I was just curious, you know. And maybe a little bit worried. I might not care much about the rebellion or anything, but I do value my own life enough not to want this thing out there, flying around." He met her eyes, managing the more arrogant smile that she had gotten so used to (but was still annoyed by). "You don't have to tell me anything, anyway, if you really think I'd tell the wrong people."

Maybe Dodonna hadn't been quite as subtle about his distrust as she had hoped he would be. She dismissed his statement with a wave of her hand. "Even if I thought you'd give away secret information to the Empire – which I don't, by the way – it will do you a lot of good. After all, our plan of attack is so elaborate that none of the Imperials will ever guess even the gist of it." She rolled her eyes in order to emphasize her sarcasm – the strategy of this battle really wasn't the Alliance's masterpiece. Though considering they had only had a few hours at best to find a flaw in the all-powerful station, it was pretty impressive they had anything to go on at all. "The fighters should be in range of the Death Star any minute now," she stated, turning more solemn. "If you want to leave, now would be the time."

Surprisingly, he didn't immediately leave, instead, he passed his hand over his brow, apparently undecided. Then, he seemed to strengthen his resolve. "Nah, I think I'm good. Besides, if your pilots fail, you might still need a ride off-planet, right?" Despite his light-hearted attitude, Leia recognized that he completely understood the implications of his statement. They would never get the chance to even board a ship if the attack wasn't a success. She couldn't help but frown in confusion.

"You're all going to stay? I thought you were trying to stay out of the Empire's way." At the mention of his crew, Han's gaze turned hard.

"Luke always had this view. Though he seemingly has changed it now. Anyway, it doesn't matter to me anymore what he wants or doesn't want, since he has decided he is better off alone." Leia's eyes widened in disbelief. While she hardly knew Luke, she had had the impression that he cared immensely about his partners. It didn't make sense for him to leave so abruptly.

"He's gone? Why? It's not because of me, is it?" She felt incredibly guilty to have come between the two friends. They would never have been in this mess if it weren't for her.

"I don't know. I don't believe so. Apparently, it's too dangerous for me to know." Han scoffed, obviously (and unsurprisingly) outraged over Luke's feeble excuse. Leia's face turned soft, and she opened her mouth to say something, anything to comfort Han. Unfortunately, she was interrupted by the announcement that the fighters had reached the Death Star. Throwing Han an apologetic glance, she moved back towards the centre of the room, motioning for Han to follow her.

xXx

Jan Dodonna barely looked up from the screens when Leia and her smuggler friend (what was he still doing here?) joined him at the table. After the red and the golden Squadron had all reported in, they assumed attack positions, meaning the red X-wings readied themselves to defend their fellows by taking out the towers and the TIE-fighters which later appeared, while three of the golden Y-wings started the first attack run.

While Jan was a passionate general (he just loved devising the most elaborate, but still feasible plots), he had always detested overseeing the enactment of his plans. Back when he had still been the commander of his own squadron (granted, much time had already passed since then), he had been out there with the people under his command, he had been able to influence the outcome of the battle. Now, he was just standing around, listening to the communication of those on the battlefield, reduced to giving small tips, but rarely any orders as he couldn't evaluate the situation perfectly just by looking at some screens. All he could do was rely on the decisions of the squadron commanders – luckily, he hardly trusted any pilot more than Vander and Dreis.

All the greater was the shock when they lost the connection to the trio of Y-wings led by Vander. He hadn't even had the opportunity to fire off a shot at the exhaust port before being destroyed by one of the three TIE-fighters who had been tailing them almost as soon as they had entered the trench. Immediately, Dreis took over the command both of the remnants of the golden squadron (which sadly was almost extinct due to the multiple other TIE-fighters that were flying around) and the red squadron, ordering everyone but himself and another X-wing to focus on the defence while they attempted a second attack run.

"Those TIEs are back." The following discussion didn't seem to lead anywhere until the pilot of one of the X-wings intervened. "I'll try to draw their fire; hopefully, I can distract them so you can take your shot." While commendable, Jan was rather unwilling to accept such a human sacrifice – and it seemed he wasn't the only one. "We don't need suicide bombers, red five, stand down – or try to take them down." Princess Organa joined the discussion about the problematic TIE-fighters, but red five – his name was Antos, if Jan wasn't mistaken – was having none of it.

"Don't worry, I've got a plan – well, the gist of one, at least. I'll improvise." Despite various objections, red five didn't defend his plan any further, in fact, he didn't even answer again. While the red squadron presumed that he might have gotten himself killed (or hopefully in any lesser sort of trouble – he apparently was notorious for his reckless moves), that theory was almost certainly nullified when Dreis reported the sudden absence of the TIE-fighters behind him. Unfortunately, they had managed to destroy Dreis' companion before disappearing.

Finally, Dreis fired off his shot – but it didn't go in. Jan could just barely refrain from cursing loudly, instead restraining himself to just clenching his hands. None of the other pilots left had much of a chance to hit their target, if even Dreis had failed. And for him, it was now impossible to make another attack run, as every fighter could only be equipped with enough proton torpedoes for one shot. Still, he had no choice but to order another run – hopefully, one of them would get lucky.

"No problem, I'll do it."

"Red five, where've you been? We thought you were done for sure, this time!" Similar exclamations dominated the talks for a while, until red five clarified that they wouldn't have to worry about the trio of TIE-fighters anymore. By then, red two, three and five had entered the trench with red five in the lead. As they neared their target though, Jan noticed that red five hadn't even turned on his computer, so how was he planning to destroy the Death Star? The exhaust port would be difficult enough to hit even with the computer's aid, as Dreis had proven previously. Immediately, he demanded an answer to his question.

The reaction of the pilot was not very reassuring, though. "I'm pretty confident that I won't miss. Feels like the Force is with me today!" The groans from the other pilots expressed Jan's opinion pretty well.

"Seriously, Antos, are you insane?"

"Charming as ever, red three. Don't you know there's only a fine line between genius and insanity?" Imagine all of their surprise when red five actually managed to destroy the Death Star.

xXx

Almost from one second to the other, the atmosphere in the command room changed from deadly tense to boisterous. Even Han himself couldn't keep the smile of his face, despite his general emotional state at the moment. They had actually destroyed the station, which had been well on its way to becoming the Empire's most feared weapon. This was the hugest victory the rebels had ever accomplished – now nobody could say that they were just a powerless little group who stood no chance against the almighty Empire. Now, all those who had been reluctant to join the losing side might think twice about their decision. While the Alliance was still far away from actually defeating their enemy, they at least seemed to stand a realistic chance.

"Did you hear that?" Turning to Leia, who had spoken so quietly he almost hadn't heard her (and he was standing right next to her), he realised instead of having adopted a similarly happy, relieved look as everyone else, she seemed to be positively lost in her own mind. Somehow, her expression reminded Han painfully of Luke, just before he would introduce an outlandish theory or a plot that would never work for anyone except him.

"Hear what?" If possible, Leia turned even more contemplative, before shaking herself out of her deep thoughts.

"Never mind. It was probably nothing." She smiled in what was probably supposed to be a reassuring way, but Han couldn't help but think that all of her political lessons had been for nothing if this was the best she could do. Before he could grill her about what she wasn't telling him, the (slightly panicked) voice of red two cut in.

"Where are you, red five?" No response to his question, as everyone froze on the spot. The general, who was still standing on his spot in front of the screens, took immediately over the command.

"Red five, report in." Still, they received no communication from the missing red five (who Han had long since dubbed Luke. Who else would be reckless (and capable) enough to take on three TIE-fighters at once, then fire the shot at whatever exhaust port without the computer which he should have needed, and actually be lucky enough not only to survive but to succeed?), so the general changed his orders.

"Spread out, see if you can't find our missing hero. Red two, when did you last see red five?" If Han had had any sort of position amongst the Alliance, he would have pointed out that their search wouldn't amount to much right now. After all, the Death Star had just exploded, so the approach would be extremely dangerous, and plus, the fighters were reduced to the meagre number of five. But as it was, he knew it was probably wiser to stay silent.

"He was right behind me after we left the trench. I thought he'd made it out, but if he isn't here …" The pilot was visibly (or in this case audibly) upset. Maybe the two of them had been close? Han stopped following their discussion soon afterwards, only paying enough attention to discern the point where they finally gave up on finding their saviour for now. Instead, his thoughts turned towards Luke, his reasons for leaving, his reasons for doing anything really – not that he came to any satisfying conclusion by the time he realised that the room had gone strangely quiet.

Everyone's attention was focused on the blond man who had just entered the command room, visibly concerned about something (Han would probably know if he had bothered to pay attention). Han almost pitied him as he was politely asked some questions (interrogated) by the general who had made no secret of neither liking nor trusting Han (the feelings were mutual, anyway). "How are you here, Antos? You were flying red five, weren't you?"

Now Han realised what all the fuss was about. The rebels had finally stumbled upon the man Luke had impersonated, and were now trapped in a mystery. The man called Antos probably didn't help to clear things up by his nervous stammerings. "Y-yes, usually I am … but … this is just so embarrassing … I-I somehow fell asleep?"

xXx

Leia walked hurriedly through the hangar, all the while biting her bottom lip and fumbling with her (for once) simple braid. It seemed like the anxiety of the last few days finally caught up with her. Stealing highly dangerous plans, being captured by the enemy, participating in a daring rescue (even though she was the subject of said project) and destroying a dangerous weapon couldn't exactly be called a walk through the park. Added to that came the investigation of their glorious hero – who still hadn't been identified. As Antos clearly hadn't been flying red five, the Alliance was facing a mystery – which was made even more tragic as they hadn't found a trace of the missing X-wing.

The majority of the rebels now presumed their saviour (whoever he might have been) to have been caught up in the explosion. Consequently, the Alliance was in a state of mourning while simultaneously celebrating their victory and hurriedly planning the evacuation of Yavin IV. And it was high time that they left the planet – even though the Empire was still shell-shocked by the sudden loss of their grand weapon, they were bound to react sooner or later; probably rather sooner, as it had already been three days since the destruction of the Death Star.

"Come to see wonderful old me, your Highnessness?" The brown-haired pilot turned away from the ship he was currently repairing (though Leia had yet to see any improvement; and she presumed that he had been working on it for the last few days), and flashed her an over-confident grin.

"Oh, no, please … don't be ridiculous. I'm afraid I've just gotten a bit lost. This station is quite a labyrinth, isn't it?" It really wasn't. Compared to the other establishments which had housed the Alliance over the years, this one had a rather simple layout. Han knew this as well, she supposed, but then, that was the whole point of her question, wasn't it? She just loved teasing the man, though he simply raised one eyebrow.

"Whatever you say, princess. Anyway, can I help you with anything? Maybe brush your hair, or serve some tea?" She almost giggled. Almost. Then she remembered it would be rather undignified and not at all suited for a princess to giggle at a smuggler's joke – that would be enough to make her father turn in his grave. She experienced a brief flash of guilt at this thought; how long had it been since she had last consciously remembered him? It was only days since he had died and still, she had barely wasted any thoughts on the planet, her home planet, which had been destroyed because of her actions. Yet she simply had so much to do (or so she told herself). Was that really an excuse to joke and laugh, when millions of people would never laugh and joke again?

"Well, you are looking rather glum. Are you alright?" Leia quickly blinked the tears which were lurking at the corners of her eyes away, adopting a mask of indifference instead.

"Yes, yes, of course, why wouldn't I be?" That came out more harshly than she had intended, but then, Han could probably take it. It was rather a pity that she hadn't been able to spend more time with him during the past few days; he would have surely managed to cheer her up a bit and distract her from all the little tasks the Alliance expected her to perform. "I just wanted to inform you that the rebel fleet will depart within the next two days. I would recommend that you leave as well, who knows when the Empire will turn up? They're taking their time as it is."

Thankfully, he didn't object to her abrupt change of topic. "I'm already almost gone, don't you see? The Falcon's ready to take off at a moment's notice." With a conscious effort, Leia managed to hold back a biting comment about the state of this wonderful … ship. Instead, she inquired about what had also occupied her greatly lately.

"Have you had any word from Luke?"

Han's face hardened at the uncomfortable subject. "No, I'm afraid not. But then, I didn't expect to. Why would he have left if he had planned to stay in contact?"

"You're right, of course. I was just wondering … do you think he survived the explosion?"

Han rolled his eyes, but smiled – a good sign, as Leia hoped. Maybe he would get over Luke's abrupt departure soon. "You guessed, then. Can't say I'm surprised." He paused briefly. "I wouldn't worry. Luke's a capable pilot, he knew what he was doing, and the kid's achieved a couple of miracles over the years. He's probably already on the other side of the universe, in the third different ship or something like that so the Empire couldn't possibly trace him. He'd be paranoid like that."

"Why do you think he did it? I mean, I didn't really know him, I barely exchanged more than a couple of words with him, but he just didn't seem this … heroic type. I simply wish I could understand." She searched his face for any indication, but Han appeared quite uncertain himself.

"He did say something … but I'm not sure if that's all there was to it. Luke always had his secrets, so I doubt he was hundred percent honest when we last spoke."

"Why, what did he say?"

"He … he said he'd do it for you." For her? What a puzzling thought. They had hardly known each other for a day, and then he didn't seem like he was particularly fond of her – rather indifferent, if she was honest. Like she was just another job. Though he was rather easy-going on the Death Star, unusual behaviour for him as she had found out later. Maybe he had taken a liking to her but hadn't known how to show it properly? Shaking her head, she dismissed the thought. Luke may have been many things, mysterious, rude, cold, but he didn't seem unable to pronounce his opinions. No, there must have been more to it.

"Well, I don't think that is true."

"Well, I thought you had a stronger sense of self-worth, but here we are." Leave it to Han to turn it all into a joke again. She rolled her eyes, changing the topic once again in order to get rid of the slightly awkward silence which had settled between them.

"What are you planning to do once we leave, anyway?"

"Why, what's it to you? Afraid I'm going to forget all about you, darling?" Leia just stared at him for a couple of seconds, speechless. Who did he think he was?

"Sorry to disappoint you, Captain Solo, but my sense of self-worth hasn't sunk quite so low yet." Oh, how she loved to pull the 'I'm a princess and therefor far superior to you' act. "But I was, in fact, wondering if you would like to stay with the Alliance for a while. We could use a good pilot like yourself, and, well, Chewbacca has made quite a few friends as I understand it." And she was really glad that he did, because otherwise it would have truly appeared as if she fancied this impolite nerf-herder, which she did not. Thank you very much.

Han's smile got an almost arrogant note. "What's in it for me?" Leia's expression turned almost more indignant than when he had been hitting on her.

"We won't pay you, if that's what you mean. You'll get all the supplies you need, of course, but we rather prefer our members to participate willingly. I'm sure you can understand." Han only shook his head.

"Oh, that's not at all what I meant. But, what would you say, why don't I become your taxi off-planet, as compensation for my participation?"

"Why ever would I have to suffer your company?"

"Because I enjoy yours." He winked and left her standing alone in front of the Falcon in a huff.


	8. Chapter 8

_Aaaand another one done. And can I just say how proud I am of myself for not having abandoned this story like I have so many others in my brain?_

 _Anyway, have fun reading & commenting!_

 _xXx_

 **Chapter VIII**

 _One year later_

"Luke!"

Immediately, his hand flew to the gun fixed on his right hip, his eyes scanning his surroundings to determine the source of the voice. Nobody around here should know his name – that is his real name at least. For now, he called himself Corwin Dun, bounty-hunter extraordinaire. It had only taken him a couple of months to build a solid reputation amongst the crime lords as the man who always delivered without failure. Though he had been careful to get them to appreciate his high morals as well (meaning he usually did the capture, not the killing), a feat he was incredibly proud of.

"Well, aren't you jumpy today." His Mandalorian companion Kam only rolled his eyes at the icy glare, clearly used to the standard reaction to any unwelcome comment. "Shutting up." The popping sound of the 'p' served perfectly to emphasize Kam's characteristic easy-going, disrespectful attitude which so painfully reminded Luke of his former partner Han. It was probably also the reason why he had even allowed the white-haired eye candy to travel with him; after all, when he had left the Death Star behind, he had planned on becoming (more or less) a hermit.

Yet then, before he could even get rid of his old armour and identity, he had a pretty unpleasant encounter with Boba Fett, who 'informed' him of the bounty placed on their heads. Long story short, disillusioned of the way of a hermit's life before he could even try it, he had paid a visit to Jabba, struck a deal which involved a couple of unpaid jobs to get him off their backs, and, after about three months, had created the dark-haired human Corwin Dun, who was currently sitting in a cantina on the planet Matao looking for a job and now for the person who had spoken respectively.

Strangely enough, Luke couldn't make out anyone in the entire cantina who looked even remotely familiar, nor anybody who was staring at him or otherwise behaving overly suspicious (though considering this place was only frequented by shady characters, that didn't mean much). He briefly mused whether or not he might have only imagined it, but he rather doubted it – maybe just because he really didn't want to add hallucinations to his list of problems.

He turned back to Kam determinedly, only to find him talking to the bartender Brax (who also acted as the go-between between the crime lords and the bounty-hunters on Matao). Not that Luke was particularly bothered by that fact – they had come here to find a job and unlike him, Kam hadn't let himself get distracted. "Yeah, I do have a job for you, in fact. Might even be a bit of a challenge, what'd ya say?"

An over-confident smile spread on Kam's face, which Luke knew would inevitably get them into trouble. "A challenge, you say? Count me in!" Luke pinched his nose exasperatedly.

"Not so fast. What's it about?" Kam's recklessness really would get him killed one day.

"One of the Hutts had a falling out with a Jedi, as I understand it, and they need someone to deliver him to Jabba's palace on Tatooine, preferably alive." Luke rose one of his eyebrows.

"A Jedi? Really?" He paused shortly to bring his scepticism into effect, but before he could continue, Brax interrupted him.

"I'm only telling ya what they told me. I ain't know no more." He raised his hands to emphasize his innocence.

Luke crossed his arms. "That sounds more like somebody wants to get rid of us. But unfortunately for them, I'm not suicidal and definitely not going after a Jedi." Moving to stand up, he was interrupted by Kam's whining.

"C'mon, Corwin, why not? It's not like there're any Jedi left, so that one's only a wannabe at best." Luke glared at him, clearly not giving his consent, but Kam turned back to Brax, completely ignoring Luke's discontent. "So, what can you tell us about him?"

"Name's Kanan Jarrus, most commonly seen in the Lothal system …" Brax continued reciting the facts the Hutts must have given him, but Luke stopped listening as soon as he heard the name of their intended target. Kanan Jarrus – it had been quite a while since he had last thought about the first Jedi he had ever had the pleasure of meeting. And it had truly been a pleasure – after they had gotten beyond trying to kill each other (though that was mostly Luke's fault).

"Luke." He froze as he heard the voice again, not only because it was absolutely impossible for anyone to have discovered his real identity, but also because now, he had recognised the speaker. There was a perfectly valid reason why he hadn't been able to pinpoint the location of this person, as he had been spoken to through the Force – by Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke was now sure. How this was possible, though, still remained a mystery to him. He had seen the old Jedi die on the Death Star, but he had disappeared afterwards, a phenomenon Luke had never ever come across. Could that be the reason why Kenobi was still able to talk with him?

He was brought out of his musings by Kam's hand, way too close to his face. "What?" Luke snapped, although Kam (as always) was not bothered by his indignation.

"Chill, would you? You were like lightyears away!" Luke didn't respond and just looked at his partner expectantly. "Anyway, I think we should take this job. True, it might have one too many unknowns, but it would be boring otherwise, right?"

"I'm not doing it, and I recommend you don't either." Luke stood up and walked towards the exit, motioning for Kam (who was still busy chatting with Brax) to follow him. Once outside, they headed into a mostly deserted alley, while Kam still tried his best to convince Luke to take the job. "Well, if you really want to mess with a Jedi, please, be my guest! But something's come up, so I couldn't deal with him, anyway."

"What do you mean, something's come up? When exactly was this? Because I'm pretty certain that you didn't have any plans when we decided to talk to Brax." Luke ran one hand through his dyed hair.

"It's complicated, and it's personal, so no, you can't come." Luke paused only for a moment, watching Kam's face turn from jovial to annoyed. "Listen, we're great partners, and I daresay even friends, but this is something I have to deal with alone. Maybe we'll meet and work together again afterwards, maybe we won't. But for now, I'm afraid we'll have to part ways." He held out his hand in an effort not to piss off another friend with his secretiveness.

Kam raised an eyebrow and eyed his hand sceptically. "Wait, you mean you're breaking up with me? I'm insulted, Dun. I'm always the one to end it." He grinned by the end of his statement, though, and took the offered hand. "I certainly look forward to doing business with you in the future."

xXx

"Leia. Finally. What a relief to see you. You have caused me quite a lot of worries over the last year." Princess Leia Organa warmly responded to the offered hug, all the while smiling slightly sheepishly.

"I truly am sorry, Mon. Believe me when I say that I would have preferred a less troublesome year as well."

Things had indeed been quite hectic after the battle of Yavin, as the rebels had dubbed it. Understandably, the Empire had become far more ferocious in their pursuit of the Alliance, finally recognising them as a legitimate threat. While they had aimed to be considered such, the consequences were maybe more drastic than they had imagined. Added to that that Captain Solo continuously insisted on being her taxi, Leia had gotten into more than one tight situation, one narrow escape followed by the next. That brown-haired menace really was talented in getting into 'adventures', as he called those near-death experiences.

"So, why did you send for me, anyway? You were rather cryptic in your message – unless that was some kind of test I failed to figure out." She smiled cheekily at her former mentor, who had consistently given her linguistic riddles to decode when she had been training her for the senate. Oh, how Leia longed for this time in her life – back then, she had been so free, unhampered by the gruelling reality of the Empire. True, she had already worked against it, had been more involved than any teenager should be, but it had all seemed so far away … all the cruelty, all the pain and sorrow had been unable to touch her in the royal palace.

Mon Mothma rubbed her hands together, then finally looked up again at the princess. "Truthfully, I mainly wanted to see you, to make sure you really are fine. After Alderaan … You know I feel responsible for you, Leia." Although Leia was touched by her concern, she couldn't help but slightly narrow her eyes at those words. Mon Mothma was the leader of the Alliance and thus had many obligations, so it did seem unlikely that she merely asked her to come to check on her health.

"I am fine, Mon, I really am. But surely, there is more to it than that." Surprisingly, the former senator of Chandrila acted far more nervously than any politician would, especially her, who had always prided herself on her composure. "Mon, are you alright?"

"No need to worry, Leia, I am perfectly fine." The woman straightened visibly, regaining control of her emotions. "But there is something I wish to talk to you about, something I feel your parents should have told you long ago."

Leia furrowed her brow. "What is it, Mon?" Internally, she flinched at her slightly impolite words, but patience had simply never been her strength. Noticing Mon's disapproving frown, Leia prayed that she would let it go this once.

She did. "It has to do with your parents, your real parents that is. You are twenty years old now, and I feel you have a right to know who they were. I am afraid I cannot tell you much, as Bail hardly revealed anything to me. But I thought you would be happy about any piece of information." To say that Leia was surprised would be an understatement. As long as she could remember, she had always longed to know about her real parents, what had happened to them, but her adoptive parents had refused to tell her anything, citing that they didn't know anything about them as a reason. Not that Leia had ever believed that that was the truth. It had been the source of a great many arguments.

Now, she would finally know more. "Thank you, Mon. I truly appreciate it, more than I can say." Mon nodded graciously, then motioned for her to sit down on the couch. "So, what can you tell me?"

The woman tutted at her brash words. "Patience is a virtue, Leia." After another scolding glance, she nevertheless continued. "Your mother's name was Padmé Amidala." Leia stared at her, momentarily speechless.

"Padmé Amidala? As in the legendary queen and senator of Naboo, Pooja's aunt? That Padmé Amidala?" As Mon confirmed her statement once again, Leia looked down at her hands, once again astonished. "I can't believe it … that … that … it's absolutely incredible. She's always been my idol, and to think – to think that she was my mother." She looked up at Mon once again, a small smile gracing her face as she thought about everything she knew about her newly revealed mother. Then, her smile turned slightly hesitant, an even more important question preying on her mind. "What about my father?"

For the last year, the question of her parentage had tormented Leia even more than usual. Partly because she had just lost her adoptive parents, so maybe the little girl inside her, longing for family, had this foolish hope of finding some long-lost relative. Yet the main reason why was the strange voice she had heard after the attack on the Death Star. The voice which had wished her luck, advertised caution and – strangest of all – had called her Leia Skywalker. First, she had told herself that it had only been her imagination, all the anxiety and stress catching up to her, but the more she thought about it, the more she had to admit that that name had a certain ring to it. Somehow, it just felt right.

Unfortunately, she hadn't really known where to start looking for her parents. She could hardly go through the records of the entire population of the galaxy, and even then, far from everybody was even registered. After a few weeks of musing, scheming, coming up with one insane plan after the other, she had decided to give it up. What did it matter, who her biological parents were? They had abandoned her, willingly or not, and her real parents had been and always would be Bail and Breha Organa. At least, that was what she told herself during the many restless nights.

Now, though, she might have a chance to solve the mystery, although Mon's expression wasn't exactly promising. "I am sorry, Leia, but I am afraid that Bail never entrusted me with the identity of your father." Leia did her best to hide her disappointment, and instead decided to interrogate her mentor further.

"But you were a good friend of hers, were you not? I remember you speaking about her fondly in the past. Could you not even make an educated guess?"

Mon eyed her sympathetically. "Padmé was a very private person and absolutely dedicated to the people of this galaxy. As far as I know, there was nobody special in her life. I did consider myself a good friend of hers, but I was not even aware of her pregnancy towards the end of the Clone Wars. I doubt that I can be much help in discovering your father's identity."

"I am sorry to hear that." A slightly downcast smile curled Leia's lips but she was still determined to make the best of the information she could get. "Please, Mon, tell me more about my mother."

xXx

 _One month later_

The vividly green, fertile planet called Cularin appeared in front of Luke as he dropped out of hyperspace. Already he could feel the Force tingling under his fingertips, teasing his brain, more powerful than on most of the other planets. It was an exhilarating experience, and one which gradually intensified as Luke approached the planet.

For the past month, he had spent a great deal of time in meditation, trying to figure out how Kenobi was able to talk to him after his death. So far, his quest hadn't yielded any satisfactory results – nor any results at all, really. Never had Luke felt so stranded, so lost in the Force. Never had Luke faced a problem which appeared as insoluble as this one.

Cularin was another stage in his immersion into the Force, a stage which he had silently hoped he would have to reach. During his training with his father, he had heard and read about certain planets which were particularly strong in the Force, though why, nobody really knew. Luke had always dreamed of travelling to one of those planets some time, had even begged his father to take him there, but alas, his wish hadn't been fulfilled. As so many hadn't been.

Luke sighed heavily as he sat down on the moist ground, closed his eyes and calmed his breathing. He could feel himself gradually relaxing, losing himself in the heavenly atmosphere which surrounded him, both in the physical world (it was rather hard to find a place as untouched by the galaxy as the spot he was sitting on, in the middle of a gigantic forest) and in the spiritual. The stories had truly not been exaggerated – this place was a paradise for any Force-sensitives.

"Luke." Once again, Obi-Wan Kenobi's voice resounded through the Force, only much clearer (louder so to speak) than previously. Careful to stay as in tune with the Force as he was now, Luke slowly opened his eyes to see the strangely bluish silhouette of the old Jedi master. He was exhibiting a strange aura – while it was familiar to Luke and while he definitely associated it with Kenobi, it felt both fainter and more consistent than a Force-signature usually did. Even as Luke pondered this, it didn't make sense to him.

"Kenobi. So it was you I'd heard."

The ghost scratched his head. "Yes, I've been trying to reach out to you during the last year, but your shields are very impressive, I must say. It took me a long time to work around them." Luke's eyes unwittingly narrowed at that.

"It seems that I'll have to put some effort into them again, then."

Kenobi responded by chuckling. "Believe me, I doubt anybody else would ever go through so much trouble." He paused briefly. "But enough chit-chat. I'm sure you've guessed that there's a reason why I tried to contact you."

Furrowing his brow, Luke decided to simply voice his curiosity. "Yeah, about that; how exactly are you talking to me? I mean I'm pretty sure that father cut you down on the Death Star."

The Jedi eyed him carefully. "So you know of your relation."

Luke didn't even try to hold back the sarcasm. "Does that really surprise you? I thought you'd been stalking me for the past year. Isn't it kind of obvious?"

Kenobi smiled innocently. "Hope dies last?" Rolling his eyes at the ridiculousness of the situation, Luke fought to keep a smile off his face. He would not go further than speaking civilly with the man his father blamed for bad thing which had happened to him.

"Why, were you actually planning on not telling me? Don't you think I have a right to know my lineage, and its dangers?"

"I think that it would be best if I didn't elaborate what I do and don't think. If you are anything like your father, we would be arguing for days." A sentimental smile grazed the old man's face. "Anyway, as to your previous question: it is an ancient Force technique my former master discovered. During my exile on Tatooine, he taught it to me."

Luke nodded absent-mindedly, filing the information away for later use. "But that's not why you called me here."

Kenobi gestured affirmatively. "I called out to you because I felt that you do not understand your position completely. You are the only hope this galaxy has, Luke, to be saved from the Sith and the Empire. Without you, their tyranny and cruelty will continue unchecked."

Luke eyed his father's nemesis sceptically. "You do realise that I was raised by a Sith to become a Sith? Why ever would I want to destroy them?" Luke barely managed to continue without being interrupted. "Besides, I don't really believe in this 'only hope' thing, because if you want to burden me with this responsibility because of my parentage, you might as well go to Leia. She's far more heroic than I am."

This time, he really managed to catch Kenobi off guard. "You know about your sister, too?" At Luke's 'duh' look, he shook his head. "I should really learn not to underestimate you." He chuckled mildly as he muttered those words. "Well, you've definitely inherited your mother's skills in observance."

At this, Luke visibly perked up. "You knew my mother?"

"Yes, I did. And you know what? That reaction is precisely why I don't think you're loyal to the Sith. You are far too compassionate, too caring, even if you like to pretend otherwise."

Luke bit his lower lip, still unwilling to acknowledge his probable disloyalty to his father, turning his mind on an (in his opinion) far more important topic. "Could you tell me about her?" He might have lived with his father for almost ten years, but never had they talked about his mother. More than once had Luke had to bear the consequences for his curiosity.

"I will. Later. First, we finally have to talk about why I contacted you. I'll never get to the point if you don't quit distracting me." At Luke's pleading glance, the Jedi sighed heavily. "Oh, fine. Her name was Padmé Amidala and she was the senator from Naboo. She was a gentle, compassionate soul, but fierce when it came to her convictions. I think Anakin fancied her from the moment he first laid eyes on her, but I was completely oblivious to their relationship." He smiled pensively, but shook himself out of his memories shortly afterwards. "So, satisfied?"

Luke was completely aware that he probably looked like a child who was given his favourite candy, but for once he didn't care. "Hardly."

Kenobi (though to his shame, Luke was already tempted to call him Obi-Wan) rolled his eyes. "I didn't expect you would be. Anyway, am I permitted to talk about your Jedi training now?"

Luke's eyes went wide with surprise. "Wait, what? You want me to become a Jedi?" At Kenobi's nod, Luke only shook his head disbelievingly. "That … that is completely insane! I am a Sith! I … I can't just become a … a Jedi. What about the whole 'once you start down the dark path, forever it will dominate your destiny' stuff?"

"You may be many things, Luke, but you certainly are not a Sith. You may have learned from your father, but he never completed your training. Despite this dark influence, you have stayed impressively … pure."

Luke huffed. "Yeah, right."

He gulped as Kenobi fixed him with his intense stare. "Do you really want your life to be dictated by anger and hatred? Because I don't believe you do. It is not too late yet, Luke. I am begging you; give the light side a chance. You might be surprised."

Luke crossed his arms, staring back defiantly at the ghost, determined not to reveal his inner turmoil, the uncertainty he had always felt about his father's ways. Heck, he had run away because he didn't believe the Empire to be the right choice. Who was he trying to fool? Right; Kenobi. "I'm not saying it will be easy, because it certainly will be the hardest struggle you have ever had to face. To put all your previous convictions behind, to trust into something you have been taught to distrust; but it will be worth it. I promise you." Kenobi paused to let his words take effect. "Or would you rather thrust all of this on your sister, who has no experience at all with the Force, and paint an even bigger target on her back? Or better yet, leave the entire galaxy to its misery without fighting back?" Although Luke cast down his eyes guiltily, he could still feel the old man's victorious smile. "What is right is rarely easy, Luke, you know that. But if you are anything like your mother, I believe you will do it anyway, no matter how hard."

Luke chewed his poor lips, slightly annoyed by the old man bringing his mother into this. Yet he had successfully made his point. He closed his eyes, breathing heavily, listening to the Force in order to calm down a little. Then, he faced Obi-Wan once again. "What do I have to do?"


	9. Chapter 9

_Alright, before starting, I'd just briefly like to thank all the favorites and followers this story has been receiving ... and to ask you to be patient for the next couple of weeks. The next chapter will have some of Luke's past in it, and I've only now realised what a can of worms I've opened - it's either risk portraying it wrongly, or first write the prequel (which I'll only post after the main story is finished for suspense). And as I'm sure you can imagine, that might take a while._

 _So, I'll hope you'll bear with me, and, anyway, enjoy this chapter at least. :)_

 _xXx_

 **Chapter IX**

Leia stretched her cramped muscles as they finally landed in the spaceport of Theed. So far, she had never been to the capital city of Naboo, no matter how many times Pooja had invited her to come. One of the downsides of being a politician and secret rebel sympathiser. You simply never had the opportunity to take some time off, much less go on vacation. It had surprised her immensely when Mon had granted her this leave, but she seemed to feel some sort of moral obligation to enable her to find out as much as she could about her family. Leia suspected that Mon still felt guilty for keeping her parentage from her for so long (even if she had only followed her adoptive parents' wishes) as well as for not being able to reveal her father's identity. So Padmé's family was the only source Leia could turn to to find out anything about him.

"So, princess, what are we doing here now?" The unusually tame words were accompanied by a playful look in the eyes of the most annoying pilot in the world. "We aren't doing anything together, Captain Solo. I am going to meet up with a friend and spend two weeks unbothered by your presence. I really couldn't care less for what you will be doing." Han actually pouted. "Pity. Did you at least book a room for me in some fancy hotel? I don't exactly have enough cash to go on a holiday right now."

Leia glared at him. "Don't try to trick me, Han. I know the Alliance gave you enough credits to last these two weeks if you spend them sensibly. Have a nice holiday." Grabbing the suitcase she had prepared for her stay with the Naberrie family, she left the cockpit, though Han apparently couldn't resist giving some parting words of his own. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" She rolled her eyes. What a helpful advice. As if she would ever do half of the things that 'reformed' smuggler would.

As she left the spaceport, she looked around, searching for the familiar face of her friend. Pooja had promised she would be here on time (and she was the epitome of punctuality), but she would probably have a hard time recognising Leia, as she had chosen to wear a cloak with a huge hood so the few Stormtroopers stationed on Naboo wouldn't spot her too easily. She was a wanted rebel, after all.

"Pooja, there you are!" Finally, she spotted the brown-haired woman in the small crowd in front of the spaceport, hugging her as she reached her. "Leia! I'm so glad to see you again. I couldn't believe it when you took me up on the invitation at last!" Pooja broke the embrace and whispered, "I am so sorry about Alderaan, and your parents." Leia responded with a pained smile. "Thank you."

"Come on, there is a speeder waiting for us. We'll talk later." She grasped Leia's free hand and tugged her along to a nearby vehicle. "We're going to Varykino in the Lake Country. My parents have everything prepared for the holiday." Smiling brightly as they got into the speeder, she turned to their driver. "Let's go, papa!"

xXx

When Luke exited his small one-man-fighter, he deeply inhaled the rich, moist air of the wild woods on Dagobah. The planet was overwhelming – if he had thought that Cularin was strong in the Force, it was nothing compared to Dagobah. Luke leaned against a nearby tree, feeling the life in the veins of the tree, in the countless insects crawling on the bark and the birds nesting further up in the branches. After centring himself again, he enforced his shields to make them even stronger than they had been before. If he was going to meet the most powerful Jedi during the Clone Wars (though his father would probably feel offended at that), he would definitely not let his guard down.

As if his thoughts had conjured him up, a green dwarf-like creature appeared directly in front of Luke, sadly catching him completely off-guard, a feat he had thought to be impossible as he had actually kept an eye out (so to speak). At least Luke wouldn't be fooled by his quirky appearance (he shuddered to think how embarrassingly this encounter could have turned out if he hadn't been aware that he would likely underestimate the old Jedi master if he focused on his looks). So instead, Luke sat down cross-legged opposite of Yoda, speaking before his new companion even had the opportunity to. "Master Yoda. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

If he felt surprise that Luke had recognised him, he at least didn't show it, only exhibiting the calm, collected aura of a wise, old Jedi master. "Luke Skywalker. Expected you I have." He turned around, hobbling away while being supported by a gnarled stick. "Come, come." Luke was subsequently led through a labyrinth of trees until they reached a small hut which Luke correctly presumed to be Yoda's residence. Even though Luke was curious about the Jedi master and whether or not his trip here would be wasted, the two of them spent the walk in silence. Probably to test Luke's patience.

Luke had never belonged to the tallest of men, but even he had to duck when they entered the dwelling, though then, it was meant to fit someone much tinier than him. As soon as he could Luke sat down on the floor, watching Yoda bustle through the house. Finally, the Jedi joined him on the floor, fixing him with an unnerving gaze which seemed to penetrate the depths of his soul despite his heavy shielding. Feeling slightly paranoid, Luke quickly checked his shields again, only to find them intact. Somehow, that made Yoda's eyes even more disquieting.

After another few minutes of slightly awkward silence in which both of them absolutely refused to break eye contact, Yoda began to speak at last. "Trained by the Sith, you were?" Not exactly an unexpected start for their first conversation. "My father trained me, yes." No way Luke would tolerate any affiliation with Darth Sidious. That man just made him sick with his creepy yellow eyes and sickeningly sweet words, although fortunately, he had never met him in person.

"Yet come here you have. Why?" "Obi-Wan highly recommended your Jedi training." Yoda slightly narrowed his eyes at that. Better stop joking, then. "And he made a very good point of me being the only hope for saving the galaxy." "Yes, always good with words Master Kenobi was. Called the Negotiator for a good reason he was." Master Yoda briefly paused. "But train you I will not. Once a Sith, always a Sith."

Shock and anger fought for dominance in Luke's mind. "What?" True enough, Obi-Wan had warned Luke that Yoda might be against taking him on as a Padawan, that he would have to make a good argument and an even better impression to get him to accept him, but never had he expected to have to face such prejudice. Never had he thought that Yoda would not even give him a chance to prove his character. It was simply unfair!

Suddenly, it occurred to Luke; what if this was meant to be his first test? Maybe Yoda wanted to see how quickly he would give into his anger. If that was the case, he was probably already on the verge of failing it. Immediately, he shut his eyes and took a few slow breaths until he reached a calmer state of mind again. "Forgive me, master." Only then he faced Yoda again, though he didn't establish eye contact again. "I will freely admit that I was rather sceptical at first as well. And while Obi-Wan might have talked me into it, I assessed his arguments myself and I would not be here if I were not absolutely convinced that this was the right way to go. I cannot and will not force you into taking me on as your Padawan, but I strongly urge you to reconsider. The fate of the galaxy is at stake."

Yoda's face scrunched up as he shook his head and turned away from Luke, muttering under his breath. "No. Too old he is. Too much anger, too much fear. Too attached to the material world he is. Just like his father was."

"And still, Anakin became a great Jedi, one of the greatest during the Clone Wars." Once again, the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi showed up out of nowhere to meddle in the affairs of the living. Luke would have been very grateful, if not for the fact his father had become a Sith. Meaning he hadn't been a great Jedi, obviously. If this was Obi-Wan's plan to convince Yoda of taking Luke on as his apprentice, he doubted that it would work.

Yoda apparently shared his opinion. "A Sith he became. Give into his anger and his fear he did. Trained him we shouldn't have." Obi-Wan somehow managed to convey his agreement and his disagreement through his gestures. "You are right, Master Yoda. While we don't know what exactly led to Anakin's downfall, he likely gave into his emotions. But you shouldn't forget that those feelings also made him an excellent Jedi, if unconventional. Anakin always felt so strongly – he felt love and great loyalty for his friends, compassion for anyone who was in need for it, and he never left anyone behind, no matter how much he might have disagreed with them. His emotions made him a better man, a better Jedi, than all of us."

Try as he might deny it, Luke was absolutely captivated by the course of this conversation. Obi-Wan shed a completely new light on his father – although Luke would never admit it, he had never looked at his father in the way the Jedi did. All he had ever seen was a power-thirsty Dark Lord, who, though he loved and cared for his son like any proper parent would do, never lost sight of the greater picture. The man Obi-Wan described, a man who lived in the moment and who acted on his feelings, Luke had rarely ever seen – and never in a good way.

"Not the Jedi way it is." Yoda scrutinized the Jedi critically, probably considering if he should start calling Obi-Wan a Sith as well. But the ghost didn't seem to be bothered by Yoda's criticism. "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. It really depends on your point of view." Obi-Wan smiled wryly. "I've had a lot of time to ponder our mistakes concerning Anakin during my exile. And it has led me to the conclusion that some of our own actions were rather paradox." He fixed Yoda with his stare, switching into teacher mode, as Luke noticed with mixed feelings. Could it really amount to anything to try and lecture a being as old as the Grand Master?

"We were taught to have compassion for others, and we were encouraged to form a bond between Master and Padawan. Yet at the same time, we were supposed to 'free ourselves' from our feelings. Only then could we reach a peaceful state of mind." He paused to let his words take effect. "But we didn't let go of our emotions. I have seen so many Jedi act rashly in the face of losing a friend, whether it was another Jedi or someone outside the order. We formed attachments, even the best of us, but the real problem was that we didn't know how to deal with a relationship. If we had taught and learned to handle love and friendship correctly instead of forbidding it, we would have been all the stronger for it."

Sighing heavily, still shaking his head, the old Jedi seemed to contemplate those words only briefly. "Truth to your words there might be. But reasons for our rules there were. Attachment leads to fear of loss, and fear …" He shot a pointed look at Obi-Wan, who seemed tempted to role his eyes. Or maybe that was only Luke's interpretation of his expression; he would have done it himself, if he hadn't promised to give the light side a chance.

"And fear can lead to the dark side, yes. But do you remember my first fight with Darth Maul?" While Yoda apparently remembered it very well, Luke was left stranded. The two Jedi obviously had completely forgotten his presence. "I was tempted, that day, tempted by the dark side. I was afraid of losing Master Qui-Gon, I was furious at the Sith for injuring him and I wanted to take revenge. And there was this seemingly limitless power, calling for me, promising to fulfil all those wishes if only I accepted it, if I just let it in." Well, who would have guessed? The model Jedi, using the dark side? Luke certainly wouldn't have believed it if anyone else had told him.

"And you know what stopped me that day? It was Qui-Gon, lying across the room, dying, and the love I felt for him. He needed my help, and fighting with rage would have accomplished nothing. It would only have been dishonourable to his memory, especially as there was still a chance to save him. So I fought – I fought to protect, not to avenge. My attachment to him saved me back then."

Master Yoda looked at the passionate Jedi (and if that wasn't a paradox if Luke had ever heard of one) pensively. Then he nodded serenely. "Much to think about I have." Luke was surprised to see that he turned towards him afterwards – so maybe they hadn't forgotten him after all. "Many dangers you will face, from others and from yourself. Learn to let go of your anger and grudges, you must, or fail you will, young Padawan." While Luke's mind still struggled to catch up with the sudden turn of events, the old Jedi Master already walked away, ignoring the now silent (but triumphant) ghost of Obi-Wan, and motioning for Luke to follow. "Come. Much to learn you have."

xXx

"And this is going to be your realm for the holiday." Pooja pirouetted as she gestured around the room they had entered – well, it was actually large enough for a saloon. A year ago, Leia would have hardly wasted a second thought on the size of it, but the past months spent jumping from one location to the other, always sharing what little room there was with countless other like-minded souls had put things into perspective. Gone was the princess who had been used to the extravagance of the royal house of Alderaan.

"It's beautiful; as everything around here is. I really can't remember why I haven't visited Naboo before. It must be one of the most wonderful planets in the entire galaxy." When Leia turned around to Pooja again after depositing her suitcase in a corner of the room, she found the woman smiling at her cheerfully. "That's what I always told you." She then raised a rather sceptical eyebrow. "You really got everything you need in there?" Leia mock-glared at her as she glanced pointedly at Leia's (admittedly rather tiny) suitcase.

"Believe it or not, that's actually almost everything I possess right now. Life as a rebel isn't exactly a life of luxury." Somehow, this sounded more like whining than it had done in her head. Pooja smiled sympathetically at her plight. "Well, that just won't do for Naboo. Plus, I doubt you have many fancy clothes in there." At Leia's sulking look, she started laughing. "Come on, we'll do something girly today, then." Her smile turned mischievous. "And I know exactly where to start."

Grabbing Leia's hand, Pooja continued dragging her through the mansion as she had done all day already. When they arrived in the western wing of the house (the part they had completely stayed clear of so far), the former senator of Naboo directed her into another, equally huge bedroom. It was obvious that it hadn't been used for a long time – though it was apparently cleaned frequently, it simply felt different from the rest of the house, kind of … dead, for the lack of a better word. It really gave Leia a very strange feeling, not necessarily bad, but, well, strange. Leia resisted the urge to scrunch up her face as she tried to sort out her confused thoughts.

"This was Aunt Padmé's room. Whenever she had time to come home, she usually visited Varykino as well … She really loved this place." Both sentimentality and curiosity rose in Leia's mind as she looked around the room her mother had lived in just over twenty years ago. It felt almost like a travel to the past – never before had Leia felt so in touch with her ancestors, especially compared to the visits to the ancient buildings of the royal House of Alderaan. She had always felt like an intruder there, although her father constantly reassured her that she was a part of that family.

During the time Leia had spent looking around the chamber reminiscing, unknown to her, Pooja had disappeared into the adjoining room. Only when Pooja thrust an absolutely magnificent dress, made of a light material and sporting colours ranging from a beautiful cream to a deep Bordeaux into Leia's hands, she managed to return to the real world. "Is that …?" Pooja nodded at Leia's unfinished question. "Yes, that is one of the countless dresses my aunt owned. Many of them are just gathering dust in this wardrobe as none in our family has the right height to wear them. Padmé was just so tiny." She smiled as she remembered her favourite (and only) aunt. "But it should fit you perfectly. Now hurry up, put it on! I can't wait to see you in it!"

Although Leia's heart was beating faster at the thought of wearing a dress her mother had worn when she had been her age, she suspected that it might lead to awkward situations with the family who was still unaware of their relation. "Pooja, I couldn't possibly …" But her friend waved her off unceremoniously. "You can, and you will. You don't have anything suitable to wear for Naboo, so this is the obvious choice. Besides, I think everybody in this house gets far too sad when looking at this room and everything else which belonged to Padmé, so it will be good if you can at least breathe new life into her wardrobe."

At Leia's further protests, Pooja simply responded with a glare until the princess finally relented and moved to put on the dress. When she reappeared from behind the dressing screen, her cousin drew in a sharp breath. "That bad?" Leia fumbled with the lose sleeves, chewing her lower lip uncertainly. "It's definitely more revealing than anything I've ever worn." While Leia had previously sported a wardrobe almost as huge as her mother's, Alderaan was far more conservative than the matriarchal Naboo, so a dress which left her entire back and her shoulders completely bare would have been a no-go.

"No, you just look … absolutely stunning. And … well, I never realised how much you resembled my aunt." Pooja shook her head lightly to return from her memories to the real world. "Oh, and dear, you are on Naboo now – we don't conceal our benefits." She smiled mirthfully at Leia and winked, but her friend didn't respond to her joke properly; instead she cast her eyes down guiltily as she thought about what she still hadn't revealed. It wasn't exactly easy; how do you tell someone that you are their long-lost relative (whom they didn't even know existed)? And what if Pooja didn't believe her and accused her of lying? It wasn't like Leia had any proof that they were related.

"Alright, what is it?" Pooja fixed her with a stern glare, but Leia only sent her a (hopefully convincingly) confused glance. "What do you mean?" She was rewarded for her acting with a sceptically raised eyebrow. "You've wanted to say something from the moment we met on the spaceport, so just spit it out. I won't bite."

Did Pooja just know her this well or had her political skills diminished over the last year? It was rather frustrating how easily people seemed to read her lately. "Am I really that obvious?" Pooja chuckled at her annoyed expression. "Well, let's just say that a year without politics doesn't exactly improve your countenance." Then, she glanced at her pointedly again, clearly not letting her off the hook.

"It's … well, I don't know how to say it … it just sounds so ridiculous, and crazy, and totally unbelievable, but …" Leia broke off her rambling and closed her eyes, expelling a nervous breath. "But Mon told me that Padmé was my birth mother. Absurd, right?" While Leia knew it with relative certainty to be the truth, she was also aware how it must sound to anyone who hadn't been introduced to this outlandish idea. Pooja obviously agreed with her on this, as she was gaping slightly un-lady-like until she managed to regain her composure.

Then, her face turned pensive. "Actually, no, it's not. I mean, Padmé was almost due when she died, and Bail was a good friend of hers. I don't really see any reason why your existence would have needed to be kept a secret, or why nobody ever told us about you, but that doesn't mean there weren't any. Padmé had many enemies, after all." Now, it was Leia's turn to look surprised. Never had she expected that Pooja would accept her claim so easily, but her friend simply smiled at her openly. "If Mon told you this, and you believe that it's the truth, I'll believe it, too. You are my friend, Leia, and I've always felt very connected to you. It won't be so difficult to see you as a cousin as well." She chuckled. "Besides, how could I ever doubt your relation to her when I see you looking like this?"

To feel such acceptance from her biological family brought greater joy to Leia than she had imagined it would, making her smile freely. "Thank you, Pooja. This really means a lot to me." After Pooja had engulfed her in a warm hug, she grinned at her cheekily. "Now, be a good cousin and brush your hair, while I go downstairs and tell mama and papa about our new family member. You'd only start stuttering again." Quickly, she tore away and almost skipped out of the room, laughing playfully at Leia's indignant shout.


End file.
